Videogames' Military Roots and Modern Entanglements

Lewis Gordon argues that videogames are returning to their military origins, with modern billionaires, politicians, and companies using the medium for propaganda and warfare. In March 2026, the White House posted propaganda mixing Call of Duty footage with missile strikes on Iran. In October 2025, Donald Trump was depicted as an AI-generated Master Chief from Halo. Microsoft provides Azure cloud and AI services to the Israel Defense Forces, and in 2020 an Xbox controller was used to maneuver an Israeli tank. Pokémon Go player data has been used to train AI for US military drones. The British Army's 'You Belong Here' campaign mimics first-person shooter perspectives. In Minneapolis, federal agents shot Alex Pretti, with one agent comparing it to Call of Duty. Harun Farocki's Serious Games I-IV (2009–10) documented military training simulations. Unity became the US government's preferred real-time 3D platform in 2022. Palmer Luckey is developing a visual augmentation headset for the US Army, promising to turn soldiers into 'technomancers'.