America's Army Cost Taxpayers $32.8 Million
Your tax dollars at work.
U.S. Army projects cost money, usually lots of money. And if you're a U.S. taxpayer, that's your money.
America's Army, the free to play shooter that is ultimately a recruiting tool for the Army, is funded by tax dollars. GameSpot uncovered through a Freedom of Information Act request just how many dollars the project has commanded over the years.
Note that the original America's Army for PC launched in 2002, but investments and development started in 2000.
America's Army year-by-year budget summary
2000--$3,500,000
2001--$5,600,000
2002--$1,862,985
2003--$2,600,000
2004--$3,866,482
2005--$1,288,552
2006--$4,050,748
2007--$2,788,137
2008--$3,887,450
2009--$3,395,702
In total, that adds up to $32.8 million over the last decade. Do you think that it was money well spent? Why or why not?
Follow us on Twitter for more tech news and exclusive updates here.
- Report: Dell to Launch Android Tablet Next Month
- Source: Foxconn Receives Order for Next iPhone
- Analyst: Apple Tablet in February, 10.1'' Display
- Study Shows We Consume 34GB of Data Daily
- Microsoft Releases Win 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
- Diskeeper Can Help Prevent HDD Fragmentation
- Wednesday Deals: Humpday Seinfeld Special
- World of Warcraft 3.3 Patch Gets Launch Trailer
- Time Traveling Sam & Max to Return in 2010
- Nvidia Uses Cartoon to Tease Intel Larrabee Delay
- TechCrunch Files Lawsuit Against Fusion Garage
- Video Game Sales Drop in November
- Intel Phasing Out SSDs with 50nm Flash
- Mozilla Director Derides Google, Promotes Bing
- Gigabyte Adds SATA 6 Gb/s, USB 3 For AMD
- Security Firm: Windows 7 Less Secure Than Vista
- Foxconn Shows Off Bamboo PC Cases
- AMD: We've Received the $1.25 Billion From Intel
I paid for the game, but I have never played it. I think I might have to download it to get my moneys worth.
I paid for the game, but I have never played it. I think I might have to download it to get my moneys worth.
It was a fun game but sometimes the aiming was screwed up.
At least the money spent on America's Army was something everyone had access too. Besides, it was only 2-3 million dollars spent every year. If you really want to look at wasteful spending take a look at what the current stimulus package is giving money to. http://www.tulsabeacon.com/?p=2274
I think they can pay IW 5 million to mod MW2 into realistic game for the army. But who cares? I am no American.
Governments will continue to justify any spending if it suits their ultimate goal. I have played it briefly, didn't really captivate, if anything they should of just backed BF2 for recruiting, better game imo.
um can I have a refund? LOL The game was great until the last year or two. Now its just full of a bunch of kids with power trips that get you banned from most servers if you kill them or hop.
Considering Obama and Co. Just spent Trillions of dollars in his first term, and inflated the deficate and our currency beyond belief, not to mention the 787 billion dollar 'stimulus' bill that has not only stopped job creation, but has put us in even more debt I think 30 million dollars for a game I enjoy is actually worth it.
Hey guess where the money that is being returned to us from the banks that we helped bail out is going.... back to you and me ? Oh, no it's being spent by our government on more entitlement programs.
Spend our way out of debt? Hmmm that just doesnt sound right.
I played that for a while. Fun on co-op. Lame when people team kill though. Someone did that to me for a few rounds so I shot him in the face every round till I was banned.
I was conceived as a way to popularize the US Army. And someone correct me if I am wrong but does not that money come from their recruiting budget? It is not an added expenditure and considering the cost for retaining and recruiting the amount of people needed to staff an army it is just a small amount considered when they have a budget in the billions. I would say go on. If people enjoy the game and it serves its designed purpose, it looks like they have a winning combination.
[citation][nom]sundm001[/nom]I was conceived .
Sorry I meant "IT"
It's a good (and cheap) recruiting tool. $3.5 million a year is a drop in the Army's recruiting bucket. Certainly cheaper than the TV commercials.
Context with other recruiting tool costs:
Navy/Marines Blue Angles F-18A/B: $18 million a piece plus maintenance. They have 10 demonstration planes (A) and 2 double seat (B).
Air Force Thunderbird's F-16C/D: $18.8 million a piece. Six demonstration (Cs) and 2 double seat (D).
Army Americas Army video game: Between $2 and $4 million annual cost. Total cost YTD: 32.8 million.
You see, the Army is saving us tax payers on its advertising compared to the other branches. You can argue the effectiveness of advertising using a video game verse a spectacular air demonstration but when it comes to price, the Army has gone the cheaper route.
I'm going with annisman on this one, with all the cash the US government has spent during the Bush and now Obama administrations this doesn't even register on the radar.
The cost is about what one Superbowl add per year would cost. From that perspective it was promotional bargain for recruiting.
The cost is about what one Superbowl add per year would cost. From that perspective it was promotional bargain for recruiting.
Well, as other have correctly pointed out, the cost is definitely very small compared to other military expenditures. It's even very small compared to the annual recuriting budget. What I would like to know is what did the Army get in return? What was the benefit?
wonder why AA 3 previous developers say they were underfunded when obviously they were given more than enough. Still I agree with everyone, that price is very reasonable for such an effective recruiting tool. Then again I hated the latest installment since it first got released
We dump 750 billion a year into military, 3 million for this game inst even a drop in the bucket. remember that next time you complain about 80 billion a year to cover every man women and child in this country with health care.
I think its value as an educational tool for learning things about the military is almost equal to its value as a recruiting tool. I really enjoyed America's Army: Special Forces and spent hundreds of hours on it. That said they really screwed up the game on AA3. Bunch of retards developed that version. Not surprised the day of release they were all fired.
I think it was a great recruiting tool, and also helped teach a lot of teens to respect service.
It was very good prior to version 2.5. After 2.4 it went downhill and the newest one is actually a pile of crap. Thank goodness I am not American and my tax dollars weren't wasted on this game!!
As a recruiting tool, it's very cheap compared to the costs of renting buildings across the US. As a recruiting tool, it's also effective at generating interest in the mindset offer to "play" with weapons as they fight wars. Yes, the money was well spent.
It was very good prior to version 2.5. After 2.4 it went downhill and the newest one is actually a pile of crap. Thank goodness I am not American and my tax dollars weren't wasted on this game!!
Dude, you are from Canada which is part of North America. You are not a US citizen.
it's not even the best game, Also how many people has it gotten to join the army. I am guessing vary few. thats a waste of money if you ask me for what they have done. For that cost they should have 20 games
Oliver
http://www.emergencysurvivalkitsgear.com/
You get patriotic hard on from this game?
Tried AA3, was very buggy, within 10-15 minutes, quit AA3.
More of a RPG fan myself.
If the military recruited in BF2 maybe, that would have been better.
Article just shows what was invested in the games development, what was the revenue? They could have made a profit on this game and actually earned tax payers some money (not that you'd see any of it). This is a VERY cheap way to recruit people in the army and will extend to an audience that it might not have otherwise been able to pursue.
The US military overall takes up around 52% of the budget. We spend 8x as much as China (second place spender on military) and more than all the other militaries combined.
Time to take an axe to that budget.
Considering Obama and Co. Just spent Trillions of dollars in his first term, and inflated the deficate and our currency beyond belief, not to mention the 787 billion dollar 'stimulus' bill that has not only stopped job creation, but has put us in even more debt I think 30 million dollars for a game I enjoy is actually worth it.Hey guess where the money that is being returned to us from the banks that we helped bail out is going.... back to you and me ? Oh, no it's being spent by our government on more entitlement programs. Spend our way out of debt? Hmmm that just doesnt sound right.
The bailout was actually paid by Bush. I don't like a lot of what Obama has (and hasn't) been doing, but a huge part of the deficit was carried over from Bush. That and the gov'ts income has dropped. Stupid Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Taxes on the wealthy used to be in the 70% range and we were doing awesome. Now it's dow in the 30% range and the rich are paying off politicians to deregulated and allow them to make even more.
waste of money