Virtual Mercedes-Benz concept designed for "League of Legends" promo
Mercedes-Benz has announced a new concept car. Oddly, it doesn’t appear to have a name, a traditional body, or even wheels per se. It’s entirely virtual, having been designed for a “League of Legends” promotional video.
What is “League of Legends”? It’s a popular online multi-player battle game that is big enough to have its own e-sports series. Mercedes-Benz is the exclusive partner for the series, hence the virtual show car. The Stuttgart-based automaker debuted it in the animated music video of a Lil Nas X song for the game’s Worlds 2022 event.
“Because of the virtual space, there are no limits to what we can do, which means we can push boundaries and give our creativity the space for the unexpected,” said Gorden Wagener, Mercedes-Benz Group’s chief design officer. Indeed, the company offered no explanation of how the car might work, even in a pretend world of magical warriors.
Presumably, the car is electric since Mercedes is using the “League of Legends” partnership to promote the EQS SUV. There are some beams of what looks like blue lightning flowing through the rear. There are massive wheel-like shapes attached to all four corners, but they do not seem to capable of rotating independently. In fact, the whole vehicle looks to be encased in glass like one of those paperweights from the 1970s.
One application that will exist in the real world, Mercedes says, is that it will offer a “League of Legends” skin for their MBUX infotainment system.
This is not the first time Mercedes has delved into the world of video games to present its cars. Almost a decade ago, they created an AMG Vision Gran Turismo concept for “Gran Turismo 6,” which spawned a 1:1 scale model (it had no powertrain). In 2014, Mercedes-Benz of Japan partnered with Nintendo to put the GLA (and several other Mercedes models) in “Mario Kart”.
“League of Legends Worlds” starts November 3.
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