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Over nearly 40 years in uniform, I saw war shift from the massed battles we braced for in the Cold War, to pinpoint strikes on terrorists, and now to a battlefield ruled by autonomous machines, torrents of data, electronic deception, long-range missiles, and unblinking surveillance. As rivals sharpen their edge and field a generation raised on digital tools, the U.S. military should seize every advantage to stay ahead in training — especially one few expect: gaming.

The modern battlefield requires split-second decision-making, seamless coordination among distributed teams, the ability to see without being seen, and tools capable of quickly processing vast amounts of information, all under extreme pressure. As I have learned over the last year, as an advisor to August Interactive, a gaming studio, these are exactly the skills that well-designed military gaming programs can develop and refine.

Unlike traditional military wargaming — which typically involves structured, turn-based exercises on maps or models to explore campaign plans and strategic concepts — the gaming discussed here draws heavily on digital interactive platforms, including modified commercial titles and purpose-built military simulations. These environments — ranging from real-time strategy games to tactical shooters, flight simulators, and cyber-themed games — emphasize rapid continuous decision-making, high-pressure coordination, and immersive skill development. While both approaches aim to sharpen judgment and prepare leaders for complex scenarios, this form of military gaming leverages the speed, interactivity, and scale of modern gaming technology to cultivate competencies that are difficult to replicate in traditional wargaming formats. And they are also more engaging and fun, which is a good thing.

The U.S. military should formally embrace and invest in advanced digital gaming as a core training tool, leveraging its ability to build critical cognitive, coordination, and technical skills for modern warfare. Doing so will maintain America’s training edge against rivals who are already integrating gaming into their military preparation.

Beyond Entertainment: Gaming as Tactical Training

Military gaming isn’t just about soldiers playing commercial video games during their free time. It’s about utilizing advanced simulation technologies to create realistic training environments that are too complex or too expensive to reproduce physically. The Army’s Synthetic Training Environment  and CAE’s Naval Combat Systems Simulator for tactical training already demonstrate this concept, but the U.S. military should continue to set the global standard for training excellence by aiming even higher, and military gaming is the next needed evolution.

Consider the cognitive demands of modern warfare. Units must protect themselves from detection and attack while also creating opportunities to launch lethal effects. They must operate in areas dominated by layered threats, including electronic jamming, drones, sensors, and missiles. They must gain a decision advantage by acquiring, processing, analyzing, and acting on large amounts of data faster than their adversary. They must generate localized combat power to overcome the mass and momentum advantage of their enemies and then, just as quickly, disperse to reduce vulnerability. These scenarios can be practiced repeatedly and at greater scale in virtual environments, allowing leaders and soldiers to refine skills, tactics, and decision-making frameworks before lives are on the line, ensuring America retains its unmatched training advantage.

Getting Specific

Video games can develop several skills relevant to modern military applications, particularly in contexts involving sophisticated adversaries like China and Russia. The U.S. military has used modified commercial games for training, and some branches actively recruit gamers for certain roles requiring these skill sets. Some examples of games that can be used to teach critical skills include:

Strategic and Tactical Thinking

Real-time strategy games (StarCraft II, Command & Conquer, the Total War series, Age of Empires, Civilization VI, Hearts of Iron IV, Europa Universalis) develop multi-level strategic thinking, resource management, and the ability to adapt tactics quickly. These skills translate to operational planning and battlefield decision-making.

Situational Awareness and Multitasking

First-person shooters and tactical shooters (Warhammer, World of Warcraft, Rainbow Six Siege, the Arma series, Valorant, Apex Legends, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Insurgency: Sandstorm) enhance spatial awareness, threat detection, the ability to process multiple information streams simultaneously, and company to squad level tactics as well as tactical communication and movements, all critical for modern battlefield environments with complex sensor networks.

Precision and Fine Motor Control

While there’s understandable debate about games that feature first-person shooters, what players actually value and develop from these games goes beyond surface-level combat simulation. The real skills include extreme precision under pressure, split-second hand-eye coordination, micro-movements for accuracy, and the ability to maintain steady performance during intense situations. Games like Valorant and Rainbow Six Siege demand millimeter-precise aiming and timing. These fine motor skills and precision capabilities are valuable for operating sophisticated military equipment, from advanced weapon systems to delicate technical instruments.

Team Coordination and Communication

Multiplayer tactical games (Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Squad, Insurgency, Valorant, Overwatch, League of Legends, Dota 2) develop clear communication protocols, leadership under pressure, and coordinated team movements. These directly apply to small unit tactics and joint operations.

Electronic Warfare and Cyber Skills

Games involving hacking mechanics or electronic warfare elements (the Watch Dogs series, Cyberpunk 2077, the Deus Ex series, Hacknet, Uplink, Grey Hack, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon series) can introduce concepts relevant to information warfare — increasingly important given China and Russia’s emphasis on cyber and electronic warfare capabilities.

Drone and Remote Operations

Flight simulators and games involving unmanned systems (DCS World, Microsoft Flight Simulator, War Thunder, the Falcon BMS mod, IL-2 Sturmovik, Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen) can develop hand-eye coordination and spatial reasoning for operating drones, which are central to modern military operations.

Stress Management and Decision-Making

Competitive gaming environments (StarCraft II, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Rocket League, fighting games like Street Fighter or Tekken) train rapid decision-making under pressure and maintaining performance during high-stress situations.

Pattern Recognition

Strategy games and puzzle games (Chess.com, Tetris, the Portal series, The Witness, StarCraft II, the Civilization series, Europa Universalis IV) enhance pattern recognition abilities, useful for intelligence analysis and threat assessment.

Attracting the Next Generation

Military gaming also addresses a critical recruitment challenge. Today’s potential recruits are digital natives who grew up with sophisticated interactive entertainment. They expect technology to be intuitive, engaging, and responsive. By incorporating gaming elements into training and operations, the Defense Department should demonstrate to recruits that the U.S. military continues to lead in innovation, imagination, and critical thinking — values that ensure it remains the world’s most advanced fighting force. The Army’s recent success with esports teams and gaming-focused recruitment campaigns shows that this approach is effective. When young Americans see the military engaging with the technologies they use and understand, they’re more likely to view military service as a feasible career option.

Building Critical Skills

The most compelling case for military gaming lies not in its technology, but in the unique competencies it develops — skills that traditional training methods, despite their continued importance, struggle to replicate at scale and under realistic conditions.

Distributed Teamwork Across Distances

Modern military operations increasingly require seamless coordination between units separated by continents, not miles. I’ve witnessed firsthand how challenging it can be to maintain unit cohesion when your teams are scattered across multiple time zones, communicating through encrypted channels, and executing complex missions without ever meeting face-to-face. Gaming environments naturally teach this kind of remote collaboration, forcing participants to communicate clearly, share critical information efficiently, and execute intricate plans with teammates they may never see.

Rapid Adaptation

The most effective military gaming scenarios don’t follow predictable scripts. Rather, they constantly introduce new variables, unexpected complications, and evolving threats. This mirrors the reality of modern warfare, where enemies adapt their tactics daily and technology shifts the battlefield faster than doctrine can keep pace. Through repeated exposure to dynamic scenarios, soldiers develop the mental agility to pivot quickly when their initial plans meet unexpected resistance.

Systems Thinking

Today’s conflicts aren’t won or lost by individual heroics, but by understanding how technological, logistical, and human systems interconnect and influence each other. A single decision at the tactical level can cascade through intelligence networks, supply chains, and diplomatic channels. Well-designed gaming scenarios help soldiers visualize these connections and understand how their actions ripple through complex operational environments — a perspective that is difficult to develop through traditional field exercises alone.

Stress Inoculation for High-pressure Performance

While no simulation can perfectly replicate the stress of actual combat, competitive gaming environments can generate genuine pressure that affects decision-making and performance. The key is creating scenarios where failure has meaningful consequences within the training context, teaching soldiers to maintain their effectiveness when adrenaline is high and time is short. This isn’t about replacing combat experience. Rather, it’s about building the foundational resilience that helps soldiers perform when it matters most.

Learning from Adversaries

China and Russia aren’t dabbling. They are normalizing digital, game-like training at scale.

In February 2023, PLA Daily (please note I cannot responsibly link to these Chinese online sources because they may not be safe websites to visit in normal browsers) explicitly urged units to “upgrade existing video games and wargaming systems” and use intelligent simulation for human-machine confrontation training, highlighting virtual-real interaction and closed‑loop feedback — exactly the mechanics that modern digital games deliver.

Another PLA Daily feature in April 2023 described a virtual reality tactical assault shooting simulator and a “metaverse + game” training environment for small‑unit communication, movement, and decision‑making. Chinese military units report fielding VR and simulation labs at scale. Reports detail virtual reality parachute training for jumpers (2022), multi‑technology simulation platforms to accelerate skill generation (2022), and in April 2025 a People’s Liberation Army brigade built at least 10 simulation rooms using virtual reality to shorten training cycles across artillery, air defense, and reconnaissance specialties. The U.S. Defense Department has noted the Chinese military’s emphasis on more rigorous, realistic training, including simulated strikes — a sign of routine reliance on synthetic, game‑like environments to rehearse against U.S.‑relevant targets.

Russia is moving along a similar path, with official military schools codifying PC‑based simulator training for drone and anti-drone operators. The developers of another Russian video game, Squad 22: ZOV, claim it is recommended by the Russian military for training.

The lesson is straightforward: America’s competitors are blending commercial‑style game tech, virtual reality, and purpose‑built simulators into everyday force preparation, from small‑unit shooters and man-machine “blue force” confrontations to standardized PC‑simulator time for drone operators.

The Path Forward

For those who want the United States to keep its training edge, it is time to treat this not as a curiosity, but as core tradecraft — and resource it accordingly. To sustain America’s role as the world leader in military training and ensure that leadership extends into the next generation of warfare, here are three things U.S. defense leaders can do:

First, the Pentagon should dedicate funding and support for military gaming research and development. This involves forming partnerships with leading technology companies and universities to develop training systems that utilize the latest advances in artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and cloud computing.

Second, the Defense Department should develop standardized metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of gaming. Just as the department and services assess traditional training methods, they need rigorous evaluation tools to ensure gaming programs meet their intended goals.

Third, it is time for a cultural shift. Senior civilian and uniformed leaders should openly and repeatedly endorse gaming as a valid training tool, not a distraction from “real” military skills. This involves educating leaders about gaming’s potential and clearly communicating its role in larger training efforts.

The Bottom Line

I visited the gaming center at West Point last spring. I was impressed with the setup and technological capabilities, but I was even more impressed by the insights shared with me by combat-experienced officers and non-commissioned officers overseeing the program. The positive impact on cadet leadership development was remarkable: improved communication skills, quicker decision-making, and faster adaptability to change. Notably, many intercollegiate athletes there are involved in military gaming.

Gaming isn’t about replacing traditional military training. It’s about enhancing it. Physical fitness, marksmanship, tactical execution, and discipline remain fundamental to military effectiveness and lethality. But in an era when warfare increasingly involves human-machine teaming, information warfare, and complex multi-domain operations, the U.S. military needs training tools that prepare soldiers for these realities.

Every military innovation is met with resistance from those who prefer traditional methods. However, history demonstrates that nation’s leading in training innovation consistently dominate future battlefields. The U.S. military has always been that leader — and by embracing gaming, America can ensure it stays at the forefront of military readiness and operational excellence.

Gen. (ret) Joseph L. Votel is the former commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command. He is a senior advisor to August Interactive, a games and immersive experiences studio. None of the games mentioned in this article were produced by August Interactive.

Image: Senior Airman Kristine M. Gruwell via Little Rock Air Force Base