Declaring "Mission Success," U.S. Army Recruitment Tool/FPS America's Army Shutting Down In May

America's Army is going out of business. No, not the real United States Army, but the free-to-play shooter series America's Army, which initially launched in 2002. Servers will be turned off on May 5, having declared "Mission Success, Time To Withdraw," according to a press release on the Army website.

America's Army was described in the press release as "the first large-scale use of game technology by the U.S. government as a platform for strategic communication and recruitment, and the first use of game technology in support of U.S. Army recruiting." Over 20 million players tried the game series, which comprised three titles: America's Army, America's Army 3, and America's Army: Proving Grounds.

The press release stated that it was time to "shift our focus to other new and innovative ways to assist the Army with comms and recruitment." With so many "realistic" military shooters out there now -- not to mention a plethora of social media options that didn't exist 20 years ago -- it would seem like the Army doesn't need its own proprietary tool to seek out and find recruits.