America’s Army, a free FPS released by the U.S Army received mixed reviews, and many questioned its goal as a recruiting tool. Now the Army is investing even more heavily into gaming, but as a training tool, not for recruiting.

Stripes.com is reporting that the US Army is investing $50 million/5 years for research and development into gaming. Lt. Col. Gary Stephens had this to say about the recent investment, which will officially begin in 2010, “We want to take advantage of that (video game market), but we don’t have the intent to become a competitor with the commercial gaming industry…We don’t have the intent or capability to be a commercial game house.”

The Army has a game that it uses for current training, DARWARS Ambush. The problem is the game is starting to show its age, and doesn’t provide nearly the scope of an actual battlefield. The Army will be using their new funding to find a game system that it finds will harness its needs for training.

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