America's Army game approaches five million downloads

The statistics for the "America's Army: Operations" computer game are surreal. Launched on July 4, 2002, the game was downloaded by more than a million people in the first fortnight and the total number of registered on-line players is now approaching five million, making it one of the five most popular on-line PC action games because of its absolute authenticity. It aught to be authentic - it was developed by the US Army and at a development cost of just US$7.5 million, it might just be the most effective on-line advertising spend in history to this point in time ... and now there's a sequel.

"America's Army: Operations" was an unqualified success in many ways. It certainly enrolled America's youth through providing the most authentic military experience available, from exploring the development of soldiers in individual and collective training to their deployment in simulated missions.

The game gives youngsters the opportunity to step into a Soldier's boots and explore, through virtual scenarios, Army life from basic training to combat deployments.

Conceived and managed by the Office of Economic Manpower and Analysis at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., "America's Army: Operations" is distributed free by the Army to give players the chance to explore training and education as integral elements of a Soldier's development.

In the game, players explore individual and collective training events from Initial Entry Training to the Special Forces Qualification Course. As players successfully "complete" each course, they gain new capabilities and can embark on adventures ranging from assignments with the 82nd Airborne Division to direct-action special-forces missions.

"The game is largely an educational tool, that is packaged in a fun and engaging way," said COL Casey Wardynski, the Army Game Project originator and director, and OEMA director. "Our overall goal for the game is to open a new channel for communicating with Americans about soldiering. In the game, young adults can explore our training, our units and our operations, as though they were in the Army."

By engaging players' imaginations and immersing them in a virtual Army experience, the game has placed soldiering front and center within popular culture, Wardynski said.

Gamers have completed more than 16 million Internet downloads of the game and its upgrades. They've spent some 60 million hours "completing" more than 600 million virtual "missions" ranging from airborne training at the Joint Readiness Training Center to the rescue of humanitarian-aid workers threatened by terrorists.

Soldiers are also drawn to the game because of its realism and fun factor. Since Soldiers are the Army's ambassadors, when they register to play "America's Army" they can also register to carry the Army Star in the game by providing their AKO or other military e-mail address.

...continued