Former Call of Duty Director Thinks Government Can Learn From Game Marketing

A former Call of Duty game director has spoken out about how he thinks the U.S. government could learn new tactics from game marketing for introducing unpopular national security measures.

Dave Anthony, the game director and writer of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, appeared at a Washington think-tank forum and presented his approach to marketing the unfamiliar or controversial.

"When we have a new product that has elements that we're not sure how people will respond to, what do we do as a corporation?" he asked. "We market it, and we market it as much as we can - so that whether people like it or not, we do all the things we can to essentially brainwash people into liking it before it actually comes out."

During the forum, Anthony suggested a measure that, according to him, would help increase safety in schools and within the nation.

“The threat now, the invasion, comes from within,” he said, proposing that the government should station soldiers in schools across the nation. "Imagine the concept of something like a ‘school marshal.' Now these guys are U.S. soldiers who are in plainclothes, whose job and part of their responsibility is to protect schools.”

“The public won’t like it, they’ll think it’s a police state,” he said of the potential backlash to implementation of such a measure. "All of these are solvable problems.”

After showing videos depicting possible future threats against the United States, Anthony continued to explain that a threat to the United States is imminent, and his time with the Call of Duty franchise has made it clear to him that the gaming industry and the government have more in common than might be seen at first glance.

"I look at the U.S. military and government, ironically, as having some of the very same problems as what the Call of Duty franchise has,” he said. “We are both on top of our game. We are both the best in the world at what we do. We both have enemies who are trying to take us down at any possible opportunity. But the difference is, we know how to react to that.”

Call of Duty is Activision's long-running and highly successful military first-person shooter franchise. Its latest installment, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, is set to release on November 4 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

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joystiq.com
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