MP's war games net £35m

An obscure former Oxford don and Labour backbencher has been revealed to be the star of the world's best-selling army computer game.

An obscure former Oxford don and Labour backbencher has been revealed to be the star of the world's best-selling army computer game.

In a bizarre case of body doubling, James Plaskitt, the MP for Warwick and Leamington, has admitted to being the model for the platoon commander in Operation Flashpoint - a virtual reality video game which has sold more than 1m copies since the summer.

The game sells at £35 and is supposedly so lifelike that the US military has ordered copies for training purposes.

The strange modelling assignment came about when Mr Plaskitt visited Codemasters, a computer software company in his constituency last year.

Mr Plaskitt, who lectured in economics and business at Oxford before becoming an MP in 1997, said: "When I arrived, they were taking a lot of photographs to go with this new computer game and asked if I would mind if they took some of me.

"I was delighted to help as they are a thriving local company but I had absolutely no idea that I would have a key role in this military video."

David Solari, marketing director at Codemasters, said they had been looking for a distinguished older gentleman on which to model the cyber soldier - and the MP fitted the bill perfectly.

The game has earned more than £35m since its release.

The UK computer games market reached an all-time high last year, with sales totalling £1.6bn. Demand for software and consoles increased by 36% on the previous year, according to figures from the European Leisure Software Publishers Association.

Mr Plaskitt added: "I have no idea if I am any good. I must be the only person who has never seen the video."

However, the modest MP has pledged to get hold of a copy if the interest in it continues, but "it is not top of my list," he said.

Contributor

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent

The GuardianTramp

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