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Call to Duty: Veteran Welfare?

Call to Duty: Veteran Welfare?

Activision Blizzard is the company behind two of the most successful franchises in game history, namely World of Warcraft and Call of Duty . Both of these game series have to do with war, one in the land of fantasy, the other in modern reality. As with most video games, they have gained a reputation outside of the gaming community as violent depictions of human interaction, and some go so far as to claim that such video games cause violence. We all know that isn’t true, but both World of Warcraft and Call of Duty have been popular franchises for a long time. Their popularity is such that these are the games people think of when they think of video games in general. One often represents, to the mass population, game addiction. The second usually represents everything bad about video games; violence in its many forms and flavors.

Both games have a reputation for romanticizing war. By romanticize I mean to idealize something to the point of fantasy. For example, those who are unhappy with their adult life often romanticize their childhood, even though they know perfectly well that they were just as miserable then, simply in very different ways. Call of Duty , and World of Warcraft too, romanticize war with unrealistic technology (from Doomhammer to sniper rifle LYNX), depictions of mass destruction that don’t emphasize human suffering (a plane smashing into an Air Control Tower to entire fortresses falling under a dragon), and cool-looking combat moves (melee strikes to Shadow Bolts). As you might guess, romanticizing war can be very dangerous. There are more consequences than I can list here, but a few of them include: confusing the romanticized version for the real thing, devaluing the very concept of war as just a game, dehumanizing the enemy, and idolizing the soldier and not the veteran.

Luckily, it seems that Activision is fully aware of these consequences and works very hard to counteract them. The most significant evidence of this movement, is the Call of Duty Endowment fundraiser. Not only did this raise awareness of the consequences of war, but the money went towards helping to employ veterans. Their major campaign video focuses solely on debunking the notion that veterans are unstable and lack the necessary skills for the civilian workforce. Most important of all is the Call of Duty Endowment’s Seal of Distinction program. This program identifies best-in-class organizations in the veteran employment space. Any company that applies have to meet rigorous criteria to be considered, including opening their books to provide extensive documentation about their results in placing veterans in jobs ( Business Wire ).

Call to Duty: Veteran Welfare?

In addition to this amazing movement, as of May 5, 2016, Activision has expanded its commitment to the veteran community by participating in the White House’s Joining Forces initiative. Joining Forces works with the public and private sectors to ensure service members, veterans and their families have the right tools to succeed throughout their lives.

That Activision has been so clearly motivated to debunk the terrible consequences their games might have is astounding. Raising awareness this way is clearly very effective and I think it’s important to know this about our favorite game companies. The humans behind the corporate franchise, as it were. Indeed, it is a reminder that Activision is just a company full of people who love to make really cool games for you.

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