While games are commonly viewed as frivolous fun, their rapid proliferation across the US defense establishment compels us to think again. Spanning spheres as diverse as total immersion training, near-peer/cyber conflict, and future force strategies, a gaming renaissance is currently underway across the US military. Surprisingly, given international relations’ (IR) interest in the production and projection of military power, the discipline has neglected to engage with this revival. This article argues that hyperreal games—that is, games that produce realities—play an increasingly important role in the attraction, production, management, and recovery of warfighters. Drawing upon one hundred hours of interviews undertaken with US military games designers, trainers, trainees, and veterans between 2017 and 2019, the article documents first-hand experiences of hyperreal gaming in warfighter recruitment, training, deployment, and rehabilitation. The core argument developed is that unlike simulations, which model scenarios, games are productive of people, values, and identity. If it is to understand games’ use as a tool of warfighter subjectification, the article argues, IR must renew its focus on military gaming disaggregated from the broader hyperrealities of modeling, simulation, and exercises with which it has hitherto been conflated.

中文翻译：

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Wargames Resurgent：军事游戏从招募到康复的超现实

虽然游戏通常被视为无聊的乐趣，但它们在美国国防机构中的迅速扩散迫使我们重新思考。跨越全方位的沉浸式训练、近乎对等/网络冲突和未来部队战略等不同领域，美国军方目前正在进行一场游戏复兴。令人惊讶的是，鉴于国际关系（IR）对军事力量的生产和投射的兴趣，该学科忽视了参与这种复兴。本文认为，超现实游戏（即产生现实的游戏）在吸引、生产、管理和恢复作战人员方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。根据 2017 年至 2019 年间对美国军事游戏设计师、培训师、学员和退伍军人进行的一百个小时的采访，这篇文章记录了超现实游戏在战士招募、训练、部署和康复方面的第一手经验。开发的核心论点是，与模拟场景的模拟不同，游戏可以产生人、价值观和身份。文章认为，如果要了解游戏作为战士主体化工具的用途，IR 必须重新关注军事游戏，将其与迄今为止与之混为一谈的更广泛的建模、模拟和演习等超现实分开。