U.S. Army Esports
DivisionsCall of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch, Magic the Gathering, Halo Infinite
FoundedNovember 2018 (2018-11)
Head coachMarcus Lovejoy (Halo Infinite) [1]
Parent groupUnited States Army

U.S. Army Esports is an esports team sponsored by the United States Army.[2] The team, which consists of active duty and reserve personnel, was announced in November 2018 as a public outreach initiative operating within the Fort Knox, Kentucky-based Army Marketing and Engagement Team.[3][4] Games in which the team announced it would compete include Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch and Magic: The Gathering.[5][6]

In 2020, U.S. military esports activities garnered widespread media attention after a successful legal battle led by the ACLU forced them to lift the bans on the people they had removed for discussing war crimes committed by U.S. armed forces.[7][8][9]

History

The U.S. Army Esports team was founded in November 2018. After the Army missed its recruiting goal for the first time in 13 years, the team was founded in an effort to modernize outreach efforts.[10]

U.S. Army Esports promotional video

In 2022, the team finished second in the inaugural Armed Forces Sports Championship in Halo Infinite that was played against the other U.S. service branches.[11]

First Amendment concerns

The official U.S. Army Esports Discord server and Twitch became the target of activists who began to post comments and memes referencing war crimes committed by the United States. This led to moderators of the Discord server temporarily restricting people from joining, and a number of Twitch users being banned from the U.S. Army Esports Twitch channel.[12][13][14]

The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations have claimed that the banning of Twitch users from the channel is a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.[8][15] An official spokesperson for the U.S. Army noted that users were subsequently banned after trolling and harassing members of the team; however, some bans were lifted.[7][9]

Fake giveaway accusations

The team has been accused of promoting fake giveaways on Twitch by providing links that they claimed would enter viewers into a giveaway for an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, but rather redirected viewers to a recruitment form.[16] Twitch asked the channel to remove those links, with which the Esports channel complied. The team noted that they had given away ten controllers, gaming stations, and chairs in the past year.[9][17][18]

Return to Twitch

In response to the mass criticism, the U.S. Army Esports team announced on 22 July 2020 that they would halt activity on Twitch and would likely resume activity in spring 2021.[19] However, the team returned to Twitch on 14 August 2020.[20]

On 22 July 2020, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filed a draft amendment to the House Appropriations Bill that would prohibit the U.S. military from "[maintaining] a presence on Twitch or any video game, e-sports, or live-streaming platform."[21] This amendment has since been defeated however, with the final vote being 292–126 against it and 13 members abstaining from voting.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Army Esports Earns Silver at Inaugural DoD Esports Championship". DVIDS. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  2. ^ Brown, Fraser (14 November 2018). "The US Army is starting its own esports team". PCGamer. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  3. ^ Garland, Chad (23 November 2018). "Uncle Sam wants you — to play video games for the US Army". Stars & Stripes. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  4. ^ McMahon, James (23 November 2018). "The US military is using video games and esports to recruit – it's downright immoral". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  5. ^ Kaser, Rachel (23 November 2018). "The US Army's Fortnite esports team is totally not for recruitment". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  6. ^ "U.S. Army wants to pay you to play video games competitively". WSOC-TV. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 24 November 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b "US Army Reinstates Twitch Commenters It Banned for Asking About War Crimes". www.vice.com. 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  8. ^ a b "U.S. Army and Navy Must Stop Banning Speech About War Crimes from Their Twitch Channels, Knight Institute Says in Demand Letter". knightcolumbia.org. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Venhuizen, Harm (20 July 2020). "Army esports team denies accusations of violating First Amendment, offering fake giveaways". Army Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  10. ^ Nervest, Marjolaine Grappe and Nora. "We followed the US Army's official esports team as it recruited gamers at a national video game convention". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Army Esports Earns Silver at Inaugural DoD Esports Championship". DVIDS. Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Internet Declares War On The U.S. Army Esports Discord Channel". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  13. ^ "US Army Esports Tweet Causes Backlash". Game Rant. 3 July 2020. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  14. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (1 July 2020). "The US Army is losing the war in Discord". Polygon. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  15. ^ "U.S. Army Esports Team May Have Violated the First Amendment on Twitch". www.vice.com. 16 July 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  16. ^ "US army retreats from Twitch as recruitment drive backfires". The Guardian. 23 July 2020. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  17. ^ Vincent, James (17 July 2020). "Twitch tells US Army to stop sharing fake prize giveaways that sent users to recruitment page". The Verge. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  18. ^ Cox, Matthew (21 July 2020). "Army Denies Violating 1st Amendment in Esports Recruiting, Sponsoring Fake Giveaways". Military.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Amid Backlash, U.S. Army Retreats From Twitch". Kotaku. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  20. ^ Gault, Matthew (17 August 2020). "The U.S. Army Makes an Awkward Return to Twitch". www.vice.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  21. ^ "AOC Introduces Measure to Stop the Military from Recruiting on Twitch". www.vice.com. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  22. ^ "AOC Amendment to Halt Military Recruitment on Twitch Defeated in House". The Esports Observer｜home of essential esports business news and insights. 30 July 2020. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
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