Red vs. Blue by ThreatGEN: the cybersecurity game as a capstone

The usual capstone in the University of Houston's cybersecurity master's program is a project in information systems security risk analysis, where students show they can stop cyberattacks with the tools professionals use. The switch to distance learning in 2020 removed access to campus labs. The university partnered with the cybersecurity training company ThreatGEN, which had developed Red vs. Blue, and students used the game as their final demonstration. EdScoop reported it on July 20, 2020.

Computer science professor Art Conklin led the exercise. The game concentrates on defending industrial control systems, the systems that monitor and control equipment from traffic lights to refineries and a frequent target of attacks. Players take turns as attackers (the red team) and defenders (the blue team) in head-to-head play. Conklin told EdScoop that everyone played both roles and that he planned to use the simulation in future classes. The game could not let students operate physical equipment, but it let them solve problems and react in realistic ways.

Red vs. Blue has moved to a new address on ThreatGEN's site. The page named in 2020 no longer loads, while threatgen.com/red-vs-blue is live with a description of a multiplayer cybersecurity strategy game with adaptive adversary AI. The site says the game needs no prior technical background, even on the attacker side, and sits on top of an education portal with courses, labs and scenarios.

Play is turn-based. A player picks red or blue, drops into a pre-built scenario and makes moves against an adaptive AI opponent, from planting or detecting a foothold to countering and recovering. Built-in metrics show where a team's judgment broke, and the same scenario can be replayed differently because the AI does not play the same game twice. The site pitches it to businesses, educators, individual learners and event organizers who run tournaments.

The company sells four bundles: Business, Education, Individual and Events. The Education bundle lists discounted student licenses, curriculum integration support, per-student progress tracking and alignment with the NIST NICE and NICCS frameworks. Current prices are shown in the ThreatGEN portal, not on the page. The game's FAQ mentions Steam and Professional versions and says the level library holds 23 levels, shown in a quarterly rotation. ThreatGEN lists its address in Houston, Texas.

ThreatGEN's home page now leads with a separate AI-generated tabletop product, AutoTableTop, and presents Red vs. Blue as the second product.