FutureGuessr is a virtual game that challenges players to identify locations on Earth as they might appear after decades of climate change. Olivia Palamountain reports

FutureGuessr is an online game that uses AI to visualise how locations around the world might appear after being transformed by rising temperatures and environmental disruption - aka climate change.

The simulation drops players into 360-degree environments showing potential futures where global warming reaches or exceeds 2.7°C by 2100. It is then up to the player to guess where on Earth they are.

Developed by Artefact 3000 in collaboration with climate organisation Réseau Action Climat, the game presents environments such as submerged islands in the Maldives, the Amazon rainforest converted to savannah, drifting Antarctic ice masses and the disappearance of France's Mer de Glace glacier.

Each transformation uses scientific data from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, converted into textual prompts that generate visual projections through specially developed AI technology.

Benjamin Sultan, research director at IRD, climatologist and IPCC expert, supported the project and validated its scientific approach. "FutureGuessr skillfully illustrates the upheavals caused by climate change in a playful way while showing that another future is possible," he says in a press release.

The AI system is hosted locally to reduce the project's carbon footprint, whilst respecting real-world topography to create what developers describe as realistic and often disturbing future landscapes. The approach makes complex climate developments visible by projecting them into recognisable geographical locations.For each landscape, players encounter two scenarios - one showing consequences of climate inaction with dramatic environmental changes, and another presenting resilient futures made possible through ambitious policies, sustainable practices and collective mobilisation. The dual approach aims to demonstrate that projected climate impacts remain preventable rather than inevitable.

The game launched following the conclusion of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, amid continuing global impacts including floods, extreme heatwaves and wildfires. Artefact 3000 and Réseau Action Climat position the project as bridging science and public understanding without moralising about climate action.

The format mimics GeoGuessr, which attracts 65 million players worldwide, by challenging users to identify their location from visual cues. FutureGuessr transforms this mechanic to explore climate scenarios whilst maintaining the engaging guesswork element that makes geography games popular.