Video game publishers and developers looking to make military-themed games as realistic as possible usually turn to military consultants to help with everything from scenario and story development, right down to what uniform would be appropriate for a given situation and EA's retention of such consultants for its latest Medal of Honor entry in Warfighter wasn't seen as anything out of the ordinary, until now.

CBS News recently filed an in-depth report confirming that the military consultants EA hired for help with the game's development were not only active duty operatives, but one of of the soldiers involved was also a part of the Navy SEAL team that took down Osama Bin Laden in the 2011 compound raid in Pakistan. The report goes further, stating that the men involved also divulged actively classified information that was used directly in the game itself. As the marketing for the game boasted the input of active soldiers, this puts the publisher in a tough spot.

Because of these actions, the soldiers involved have been formally reprimanded by the US Navy by having part of their pay docked for two months and having the incidents marked on their military records, though all of the soldiers involved could have faced criminal charges, as SEALS operatives are held to an unwritten code of silence as well as being held to binding non-disclosure agreements on classified information.

Even though the game itself was critically and commercially panned upon release, it does bring up good questions in light of Veteran's Day. Did EA go too far in its quest for military realism in its development of the game and did the soldiers involved deserve harsher punishment for their actions?

 Humberto Saabedra is the Editor-in-Chief of AnimeNews.biz, PhoneNews.com and an occasional columnist for Ani.me. He can also be found musing on his favorite 2D girls at @AnimeNewsdotbiz.