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Mindless entertainment or covert propaganda? (Credit: Call of Duty/ Activision/ Infinity Ward/ YouTube)
Even if you’re not into video games, you will have heard of Call of Duty. It’s one of the most popular titles ever made. Fans have devoted more than 25 billion hours to the first-person shooter game — that’s 2.85 million years. It’s a product with an enormous amount of power — and, some say, the potential to be weaponised. Last year, Alan MacLeod, who has written two books about propaganda, suggested that the most recent edition of Call of Duty — Modern Warfare: II, last year’s biggest-selling title — is nothing more than a US government “psychological operation”, or “psyop”.
The purpose of a psyop, according to the US Department of the Army, “is to create in neutral, friendly, or hostile foreign groups the emotions, attitudes, or desired behaviour that support the achievement of US national objectives and the military mission”. But there’s no reason to only target “foreign groups”.
The British-American writer Alistair Cooke called Hollywood “the most effective and disastrous propaganda factory there has ever been in the history of human beings”. And for several years during and after the Second World War, the film industry worked very closely with the US military to push certain narratives to domestic consumers. Today, however, the movie industry has lost much of its reach. It is now worth a rather trifling $29 billion. The video game industry is worth $365 billion; by 2030, that figure is expected to jump to $470 billion. So, much as Hollywood once served as the primary vehicle for Pentagon-approved propaganda, why wouldn’t those in power utilise video games to spread particular messages and influence the masses? After all, in the United States, a country of 331 million people, 215 million now play them on a regular basis. Tens of millions of these gamers play Call of Duty religiously.
Take one of the very first missions in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. It shares a number of striking similarities with the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian military officer who was killed by the US military in 2020. Sporting a big white beard, “Ghorbrani”, the Iranian general in the game, even looks like Soleimani. He is, the player learns, a Russian-controlled puppet. Your job is to kill him. The mission reminded me of another, in Call of Duty: Black Ops, released in 2010, in which players were ordered to murder Fidel Castro. Like the order to kill “Ghorbrani”, the order to kill Castro sounded like it was coming straight from the Pentagon.
Call of Duty wouldn’t be the first video game to have a storyline based on real events — so no wonder there are parallels with US army operations. It’s what the public wants. But is there more to it than realistic entertainment? The connection between the US national security state and the entertainment industry is incredibly strong. When Edward Snowden disclosed thousands of state documents a decade ago, it quickly became clear that agencies such as the CIA and the Department of Defense have for years used video games for counterterrorism operations, with spies conducting surveillance operations inside World of Warcraft.
Video games are also frequently used for military training purposes. Tank crews use virtual-reality systems to simulate the realities of war. The US military even created its own multiplayer shooter game — America’s Army — to train recruits, before working directly with game makers behind franchises such as Doom and Call of Duty. So, is it a stretch to imagine that the US military might use Call of Duty, a game that has more than 118 million active users worldwide, to influence young, highly-suggestible gamers?
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SubscribeI am (I am embarrassed to say) a grown man from Canada who plays COD Warzone. This is the series of games where you play against other people online. I am not sure the propaganda is working very well because my character (called a ‘skin’ in the game) is a modern Chinese soldier. While there are US military skins – pretty much every army in the world is there as well – as well as skins of people who look very much like freedom fighters or members of irregular armies. Of course you can also be Snoop Dog – or Bruce Willis from Die Hard (complete with one liners from the franchise). Finally – there are hundreds of different firearms from all over the world in the game including a lot of Russian ones. So while I have no doubt the US – and probably other militaries – try to influence the game developers the game seems pretty neutral. I don’t play the other version of the game – where you play out a storyline against the computer – so maybe that is what the author is focussing on.
I am (I am embarrassed to say) a grown man from Canada who plays COD Warzone. This is the series of games where you play against other people online. I am not sure the propaganda is working very well because my character (called a ‘skin’ in the game) is a modern Chinese soldier. While there are US military skins – pretty much every army in the world is there as well – as well as skins of people who look very much like freedom fighters or members of irregular armies. Of course you can also be Snoop Dog – or Bruce Willis from Die Hard (complete with one liners from the franchise). Finally – there are hundreds of different firearms from all over the world in the game including a lot of Russian ones. So while I have no doubt the US – and probably other militaries – try to influence the game developers the game seems pretty neutral. I don’t play the other version of the game – where you play out a storyline against the computer – so maybe that is what the author is focussing on.
I don’t play video games, but I have a question for anyone who knows more about this than me. I work with young people who are gamers. Many of them seem to take the opposite tack than what is being argued in this article. In the games they play, they often take the side of the Germans or the Soviets. They prefer the AK47 as a weapon. They seem to think the Americans are always the bad guys. They say pro-Communist things. I got the impression that video games were not making any fans of the American military. Is it possible there is a war of propaganda happening in the video game world?
While I wouldn’t necessarily discount the possibility of a propaganda war, what you describe sounds more like standard contrarianism amongst the youth – it’s not exactly hard to see what angle these games are pushing, so the instinct is to push back (usually in a semi-ironic manner).
With regards to the “pro-communist things” – there was a study doing the rounds in 2020 which showed a third of young people in the US would prefer communism over democracy (which I find understandable considering America is an Oligarchy masquerading as a democracy) so that might also be relevant to your experiences.
As a past middle-aged man with the brain of a 10-year-old I enjoy computer games and a quasi-military competitive hobby called “airsoft”. From my perspective, role-playing is a significant component of these games, but it seems that the US-style military is the most copied and aped.
You see a similar thing in grand strategy games like Hearts of Iron 4. This has a start date of 1936 and allows the player to take very different paths for historical states and governments. The most popular one from what I can tell usually involves restoring a monarchy somewhere.
Much like advertising generally or micro-transactions in video games, it’s not about the median consumer. It’s about increasing and fishing in the margins for recruitment.
While I wouldn’t necessarily discount the possibility of a propaganda war, what you describe sounds more like standard contrarianism amongst the youth – it’s not exactly hard to see what angle these games are pushing, so the instinct is to push back (usually in a semi-ironic manner).
With regards to the “pro-communist things” – there was a study doing the rounds in 2020 which showed a third of young people in the US would prefer communism over democracy (which I find understandable considering America is an Oligarchy masquerading as a democracy) so that might also be relevant to your experiences.
As a past middle-aged man with the brain of a 10-year-old I enjoy computer games and a quasi-military competitive hobby called “airsoft”. From my perspective, role-playing is a significant component of these games, but it seems that the US-style military is the most copied and aped.
You see a similar thing in grand strategy games like Hearts of Iron 4. This has a start date of 1936 and allows the player to take very different paths for historical states and governments. The most popular one from what I can tell usually involves restoring a monarchy somewhere.
Much like advertising generally or micro-transactions in video games, it’s not about the median consumer. It’s about increasing and fishing in the margins for recruitment.
I don’t play video games, but I have a question for anyone who knows more about this than me. I work with young people who are gamers. Many of them seem to take the opposite tack than what is being argued in this article. In the games they play, they often take the side of the Germans or the Soviets. They prefer the AK47 as a weapon. They seem to think the Americans are always the bad guys. They say pro-Communist things. I got the impression that video games were not making any fans of the American military. Is it possible there is a war of propaganda happening in the video game world?
Thin gruel. The Top Gun movies faced similar allegations. That the armed services wish to reach out to young people via popular culture and entertainment for recruitment and PR purposes? I’m shocked!
Thin gruel. The Top Gun movies faced similar allegations. That the armed services wish to reach out to young people via popular culture and entertainment for recruitment and PR purposes? I’m shocked!
If the goal of this is to improve recruiting, it is not going well.
The problem there is Reddit. Vlogs from the frontline show the utter randomness of death in a trench.
Let’s face it. Anybody who plays combat games is more likely to not want to join up as such games annunciate death in bold and underline.
And any that do soon find that the crack of a bullet passing close by has a loosening effect on the bowels. Trust me. Then again we were all volunteers and could talk, and had talked to the people who were in WW2, Korea and, dare I say it, Vietnam. You never get hurt in games, death and limb loss are not real. There is a very real disconnect there.
And any that do soon find that the crack of a bullet passing close by has a loosening effect on the bowels. Trust me. Then again we were all volunteers and could talk, and had talked to the people who were in WW2, Korea and, dare I say it, Vietnam. You never get hurt in games, death and limb loss are not real. There is a very real disconnect there.
The problem there is Reddit. Vlogs from the frontline show the utter randomness of death in a trench.
Let’s face it. Anybody who plays combat games is more likely to not want to join up as such games annunciate death in bold and underline.
If the goal of this is to improve recruiting, it is not going well.
Well… some fair points. I want to take it further. What does this mean for Grand Theft Auto (GTA) then? That game promotes vice, immorality and violence. Who would be promoting that? Looks like it is promoting some current affairs in certain cities around the world. Normalizing random violence and crime. Who would be funding and promoting that?
Well… some fair points. I want to take it further. What does this mean for Grand Theft Auto (GTA) then? That game promotes vice, immorality and violence. Who would be promoting that? Looks like it is promoting some current affairs in certain cities around the world. Normalizing random violence and crime. Who would be funding and promoting that?
How is this a bad thing?
It’s underhand. We like to pretend that democracy involved openness and honesty rather than covert mind control.
It’s underhand. We like to pretend that democracy involved openness and honesty rather than covert mind control.
How is this a bad thing?
Aircraft is both plural and singular. Tacking a letter s onto it shows ignorance.
Aircraft is both plural and singular. Tacking a letter s onto it shows ignorance.
Not the faintest idea as to what this is about?
Not the faintest idea as to what this is about?
Never heard of it.. I don’t even know what a video game is!