Controversial Army Recruitment Game Shutting Down in May

The United States Army has been known to use video games as a part of its recruitment effort. Those currently enlisted can join the U.S. Army Esports team. A Twitch channel, which has its own controversy, was also started by the Army. Perhaps the biggest and most successful recruitment effort by the Army was the online game America’s Army: Proving Grounds, which will be shutting down after being in operation for 20 years.

America’s Army Proving Grounds Withdraws from Combat

America’s Army: Proving Grounds is a free-to-play FPS on PS4 and PC. The game focuses on completing objectives and working with a team of players rather than just shooting and killing. The team behind the game posted an announcement regarding the game’s shutdown on America’s Army website.

“As time has passed and AA has fulfilled its mission, it is time to shift our focus to other new and innovative ways to assist the Army with comms and recruitment,” the team said. “None of this would have been possible without our players, so thank you for your dedication and continued support throughout these years.”

The game will shut down on May 5, 2022, and has long been criticized for the way it portrays joining the army as a fun adventure. Proving Grounds has several offline features and private servers so it won’t be completely unplayable once it shuts down in May.