America’s Army: Proving Grounds is an infamous first-person shooter developed to recruit for the United States military, and it has been in operation for 20 years. On February 7, the United States military announced that they would be refocusing their recruitment efforts in new places.
America’s Army, a first-person shooter game published in 2002, was developed and published by the United States Military. America’s Army was explicitly created to encourage recruits into the military, and players experienced a variety of different military roles throughout the game. America’s Army was a serious investment for the US Army, having spent $32.5 million on the game in the first decade since release. Now, after three major iterations of America’s Army, the free-to-play online service is closing down.
In an announcement posted on official America’s Army: Proving Ground forums, the development team said goodbye to the community and announced they would be withdrawing support for the game soon. With this last farewell, the United States military is turning its attention to new franchises, such as the US Marine Corps Call of Duty: Warzone tournament. America’s Army is to be removed from Steam and PSN on March 5, and all online matches will cease. However, fans of America’s Army will still be able to play offline, and host private matches.
The game was designed as a promotional tool for United States Army. It was a free-to-play tactical shooter that was widely enjoyed during its time. On America’s Army: Proving Grounds forums, the official post stated that across the three iterations of the game “there have been over 30 million objectives completed, 180 million successful missions, 250 million teammates assisted, and many more in-game achievements.” America’s Army was the first large-scale use of game technology, by the US Army, for strategic communication and recruitment. It worked, too, unlike the US Army’s return to Twitch.
However, America’s Army has received criticism since its release. Controversy would return many times during the game’s operation, and now public support for the military is waning. A dedicated group of a few thousand players are still keeping America’s Army alive, but the game hasn’t seen a major update since 2013. Recent efforts by the US Army to engage in the esports and streaming industries have been not been successful, as the US Army sponsorship of Call of Duty League ended in controversy. The America’s Army development team said it will “shift our focus to other new and innovative ways to assist the Army with comms and recruitment.”
So, with that official support for America’s Army will be withdrawn soon. First designed as a marketing and recruitment tool for the United States military, America’s Army will remain in the gaming industry history books for reasons good and bad.
America’s Army is available on PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360 until March 5, 2022.
Source: America’s Army: Proving Ground
