Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops II director Dave Anthony recently joined the Atlantic Council, a political think-tank, with the mission of thinking outside the box about the future of warfare. In his first talk, he says not only could artists help solve problems like the ones posed by terror cells, but the government could also learn a thing or two from video game marketing.
In his first talk, Anthony explained how bringing in artists and other creative types into government discussions could help find solutions, and problems, that non-creatives might not have been able to discover. You can watch the full talk below.
"Artists, creative people, think outside the box and need to be a little bit crazy," he said. "As artists our job is basically to blow apart traditional thinking."
That kind of thinking applies perfectly to figuring out how to deal with the changing state of warfare. No longer are wars only fought between nations with men dressed in uniforms, but instead are more often carried out with acts of terror and guerrilla warfare tactics by small groups. Technology, while holding the potential to making the country safer, also has the potential to do it great harm without proper protection. Anthony showed as much in Black Ops II by imagining a world where the U.S. came to rely more and more heavily on drone warfare, only to have a terrorist take control of them and proceed to attack the country.
"One individual with technology, technology in the wrong hands, can cause massive destabilization in a country," he said. "All of this technology is moving very, very quickly. There needs to be another way of thinking about these problems."
Bringing in a diverse group of people to think about these problems and how to solve them is the key, Anthony says. He used the writing process for Black Ops II as an example. Treyarch, the development studio responsible for making Black Ops II, brought in screenwriter David Goyer, political commentator Oliver North, a SEAL Team Six member and futurist Peter Singer to craft the story for the game. Each person brought new perspectives to the table.
When it comes to marketing unpopular ideas, Anthony says there too the government could learn a thing or two from creatives. Marketing ideas before they become reality, he says, is key.
"When we have a new product that has elements we're not sure how people will respond to, we market it," he said. "We market it as much as we can, so that whether people like it or not, we essentially brainwash them into liking it before it actually comes out. When you have decided to make these changes, you have a marketing campaign to introduce them before it is forced upon you.
That could make unpopular ideas, like the idea of a School Marshal as suggested by Anthony, less controversial when finally put into action. Activision knows how to respond to hostility towards new ideas. By sharing his thoughts on how to market ideas and think outside the box, Anthony is looking to help the U.S. government do so as well.
