10 Video Game Conspiracy Theories You'll Start To Believe
7. The Military Funds Games To Recruit Players
We're all familiar with the the concept of the government using popular mediums to subconsciously encourage people to join the military. (The Simpsons did a whole episode about it.) Because video game franchises like Medal of Honour, Battlefield, and Call of Duty are so popular, some people believe these properties are funded by the US government to encourage people to be recruited into the army or navy.
At first, this notion sounds absurd. You're not going to want to go to war because you played a war game. Nobody has an impulse to dropkick a turtle shell just because they played Super Mario (But if you do, seek help.)
Bizarrely, it's always the conspiracies which sound the craziest that harbour a grain of truth. American government officials DO fund military games, specifically the first-person shooter, America's Army. The series, which has run for two decades, literally tells you its financed by the army. For years, it's been used at air shows, carnivals, and sporting events purely to find new recruits.
Even though the government makes their involvement with America's Army no secret, gamers still suspect the higher-ups in Washington DC have more involvement in war games than they're letting on.