The official US Army video game America’s Army that was partly used to recruit the US Army is coming to an end. A recent article by Army Game Studio reveals that the team is working on a wide range of training and recruiting projects. The US military has its own Twitch channel (with over 23,000 subscribers) and a tournament-playing esports team with recruiters in tow. The US Army, Navy, and Air Force are currently using Twitch and esports teams for recruiting, especially as many units have been missing recruiting targets in recent years and the pandemic has hampered in-person recruiting.
The game will close on May 5, 2022, and has long been criticized for describing joining the United States military as a fun adventure. The game was considered controversial by many due to its use as a recruiting tool, as well as its initial well-timed release after 9/11 and before the Iraq War. Americas Army is a highly controversial multiplayer video game developed and funded by the US Army, is shutting down after 20 years. The game’s development team posted notice of closure on the US Army website. Polygon reports that the game, which was developed and released by the US military, has been frequently criticized for its tone and purpose since its release in 2002.
First launched in 2002, the main goal of the game was to show potential recruits what life in the military was like and try to enlist them. The point of the game is to complete a series of training sessions before entering a simulated combat scenario. The developers added an easy-to-use “Normal Mode” that helps players complete basic tasks that soldiers perform during typical operations, and a “Hardcore Mode” that puts players in charge of their own safety. Friendly fire and other negative gameplay behavior can land players in jail, and some mechanics are supposed to evoke the routine and complexity of military life.
The military FPS represented the US government’s first large-scale use of gaming technology as a platform for strategic communication and recruitment, and the first use of gaming technology to support US military recruitment. Americas Army – The video game was at its core a free-to-play tactical shooter and a pretty good one but it also featured the more mundane aspects of military life, like medical training, driving a Humvee, and how weapon systems work.
The end of his recruiting video game hardly means the end of the use of war games as a recruiting tool. The US military was supposed to be a seven-year project, but its success has prompted the Department of Defense to keep it updating, and the Pentagon spends more than $3 million a year to develop and promote it: a drop in the bucket compared to the total recruiting budget of $8 billion.
The US military itself officially declared the mission a success and promised it would focus on “other new and innovative ways” to help with communication and recruitment. The team says it will shift its focus to helping the US military through other methods of communication and recruitment. In a statement, the US military said the free-to-play was the first large-scale use of video game technology for recruitment and communication when it was launched many years ago.
