British intelligence agency, GCHQ, which reports to British foreign secretary, David Milliband, and works with MI5 and MI6, is set to use Xbox Live, a massive online gaming network which links between millions of people all over the world in an effort to recruit new members into its ranks.

The campaign will run through a period of six weeks, and will use a few methods to get itself across - both out of games and in them, through the Xbox Live dashboard and through streamed video ads inside of games.

Among the games mentioned to participate in the campaign are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed II, and Left 4 Dead 2. GCHQ has also noted the reason for such a campaign - many of the agencies' recruitment criteria come into play in Xbox online multiplayer, criteria such as teamwork, problem solving, and quick thinking.

A GCHQ representative has also said the following:

"As well as tackling 'traditional threats' GCHQ's work is also about helping government departments, such as the Ministry of Defence, to protect their information and communication systems," 

"This means we can offer excellent training and careers for people with specialist technical skills. However, the fact remains that many potential candidates remain unaware of GCHQ and what we do. Using video on Xbox LIVE helps carry our message to the right people in a creative and innovative manner,", she added.

Personally, I can comment on that it's a pretty interesting idea - that goes to show that gaming is more appreciated today than it was before, since for some it's a way to find fitting people for a certain job. Even more so since the job is a government one.

Source: The Guardian

Article originally submitted by Xen