Investigating how the U.S. Military Embeds in the Video Game World To Recruit New Soldiers

This is an inside look at how the U.S. military is ramping up its use of gaming to recruit young people, and takes us inside the Navy's esports facility in Memphis. Targeting gamers makes sense from the military’s perspective, as it gives access to a young, tech-savvy population. But some veterans say that marketing the military with video games—especially those that make a game out of war—is unethical.

Of primary concern is just how young the military’s gaming audience is. Online gaming spaces are popular with minors, many of them not yet 13 years old, and the military deliberately capitalizes on games that appeal to them. If the military’s recruiting efforts are successful, these children and teens will end up applying the skills they honed while playing games they love to warfare—piloting drones to kill from afar, for example.