It's definitely a good question as there are a lot of FPS gamers who also play airsoft and there's some annoyance among airsoft players about gamers who think the playing airsoft is the same as Call of Duty or Battlefield. So Game Trailer's Combat Facts tried to answer that question: "Will Online FPS Team Tactics Work In Real Life?" by playing an airsoft Capture The Flag game.

Now, the problem with the produced video is that whilst there was definitive answer from David Johnson of Saber Ops who took part in the video that it's fiction that online team tactics work in real life, the video leaves a lot to be desired as there was no full clip of the actual airsoft firefight when the teams battled to capture the flags. The movements and communications were explained, but then it's best for some third party to make their own conclusions. But near the end of the video, we can say that our answer is "not enough information."

Of course we agree that there are big differences between online and airsoft shooting games (and real life  combat too)  but the basics of good team tactics work whether in virtual combat or real life combat: Communications is important for both to help dissipate the fog of war and coordinating team movements and tactics; moving as a team works better than being a lone wolf in both; and terrain and elevation also works the same in video games and real life so using such to the advantage by both teams applies virtually and IRL (In Real Life).

But moving beyond the basics, the differences  will become obvious as real life is more physically demanding than online. Thus, fit team members are much preferred as compared to online as it's more about your gaming hardware and network latency (lag issues). There are more environmental factors in real life than virtual and thus radio comms will get interference, guns will get jammed, and team members who get hit don't recover quickly and will wait for regen or game over (or worst if it's real combat) whilst online everything works perfectly and quickly.

Thus, if we go to basic team tactics, they will work both online and offline. Divergence from real and virtual happens when we consider other factors that are either non-existent or hard to replicate in either "realities."