B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Pinterest
  • WPP
  • AFL
  • Cannes Lions
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Federal Election
  • Thinkerbell
  • NRL
  • State of Origin
  • AI
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Channel 10
  • ARN
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Pokémon Go Inspiring The future Of Warfare: The Pentagon
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Technology > Pokémon Go Inspiring The future Of Warfare: The Pentagon
Technology

Pokémon Go Inspiring The future Of Warfare: The Pentagon

Staff Writers
Published on: 14th March 2017 at 9:08 AM
Staff Writers
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

Secret government war agency turns to Avatar, Pokémon Go, Divergent and Iron Man to “exert dominance” in the world. B&T wishes we were making this up, but sadly – and somewhat unusually – we’re not.

Gaming, movies and media are being integrated into the how war will be conducted in imminent years.

In what was easily the scariest session of South by Southwest (SXSW) so far, the founding director of The Pentagon’s Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO), Will Roper, discussed warfare strategies and the cross-over with technology.

Will Roper
Pictured: Will Roper

The talk opened with Roper describing his role as “the best job in the world” as he helps the US government prepare for – wait for it – “tomorrow’s war”. There was an audible collective gulp at that moment.

If that wasn’t enough to make your tummy turn, Roper went on to say he believes functions within games like Pokémon Go, Halo and Call of Duty will become staples of modern warfare within the US military.

“Until now, games mimic warfare. But warfare will mimic games” he said.

Roper sees gaming as hugely influential given the developer’s ability to create simple interfaces that provide solutions to complex problems and deploy useful information without the need for expert training.

“The interface is the key… the simplicity”, he said.

“Pokémon Go will allow us to learn. Add a roadblock, drop a marker, add a good snipper location.”

Roper also sees “group play”, where people connect and share information from entirely remote locations to update mission critical information, as an area of development for weapons and software within his department.

In itself, SCO appears like a something from a series of 24. The department became public 12 months ago, although it has existed since 2012 and Roper described it by saying “We used to be men in black, now we’re men in grey”.

Its remit is, among other things, to look at how robots, artificial intelligence and new weapons will shape the future of warfare, while working with the US Defence Department.

Data is the next battleground as Roper remains steadfast that the Pentagon must pivot to see data as the most important element of modern warfare.

He cited Google and Facebook as cherishing their data as their most prized commodity due to the AI learnings, which come from mapping mass quantities of data.

“The Pentagon is device-centric – planes, tanks, warships. I wish the department was data centric,” Roper said.

He explained that the inherent risk is if a war were to be fought against an enemy that has data, then its army will have learnt from the data of day one of the war and will be a better, more informed and smarter army come day two.

Meanwhile, some scenes from the Divergent series of movies have already come to fruition with what Roper described as “the benefit of expendability”, where the fighter will have mini-drones that fly ahead and feedback information – a system called Avatar.

Divergent drone

And if all that’s not enough, then Tony Stark also gets a guernsey, with Roper saying “Eventually we will have systems like the Iron Man suit”. However, he noted that this won’t be for some time, as a new energy source is needed to power something that heavy.

Iron Man

So, in summary, the world just got a whole lot scarier, and it’s all Pikachu’s fault.

 

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Advertising Standards Bureau, Casella Brands, David Thomason, einsights, pokemon go
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

“That Night Nearly Destroyed Me, But It Also Lit A Fire Inside”: What UnLTD’s Adland Bail Out Taught Me About Justice, Hope & Shame
24/06/2025
Vale Dominic Proctor, A Giant Of Adland Who Set Up Mindshare & Transformed The Industry 
24/06/2025
Omnicom-IPG Merger Clears Major Regulatory Hurdle But FTC Warns Against Collusion Over Political Content
24/06/2025
TV Ratings (23/06/2025): 1.8 Million People Tune In As Henry & Cade Lift The Lego Masters Grand Trophy
24/06/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?