What Game Developers Can Teach Defense Training

How do you keep a drone pilot motivated through 50 to 100 hours of simulator training? For Adrian Ruiz-Langan, the answer was to stop making it feel like training.

Ruiz-Langan runs Tarkus Simulation and True Players, which he describes as a dual-use technology company with a consumer FPV simulator and a military offering built on the same core technology.

As a game developer, Ruiz-Langan found the process of learning to fly drones in racing simulators “extremely boring”. His team added miniguns, rocket launchers and enemies, turning flight practice into a game. Firehawk FPV now has around 25,000 users on Steam and was named overall winner of the Serious Games Challenge.

The game also found an unexpected audience. When the team discovered that Ukraine was its second-largest market, they began building a military trainer on the same technology. It teaches tactics and doctrine alongside stick skills.

In this interview, Ruiz-Langan explains why players get through those 50 hours without really realizing it. He also shares what has surprised him since his team entered defense earlier this year.

Watch the interview to find out how a games studio is rethinking drone pilot training.