Mercedes-Benz teases first all-virtual show car

It seems like the real world isn’t enough for Mercedes-Benz, as it gears up to reveal its first all-virtual show car, in a video game.

Mercedes-Benz chief designer Gorden Wagener teased this upcoming virtual show car on Instagram ahead of its expected reveal (see the hashtags) during the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, which runs from September 29 to November 5.

In the teaser image there’s a translucent ‘sheet’ covering the show car which hides the majority of the details, but allows us to see the curvaceous design.

From some angles the teased show car looks similar to the recently-revealed Mercedes-AMG Vision AMG concept, as well as the Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR concept from 2020.

It appears this show car is a coupe of some variety and has an illuminated three-pointed star badge, as well as vertical headlights. The wheels are absolutely massive too.

If Mercedes-Benz does plan to reveal this teased show car during the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, it’s unclear how it’ll be incorporated into the video game.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game which is developed and published by Riot Games.

In the game’s main mode there are two teams of five players that battle each other, with the main objective of destroying the other team’s base. Players can also kill non-player characters to receive gold and experience points.

Some playable characters are able to pilot a vehicle, so this could be a potential implementation for this upcoming Mercedes-Benz show car in the game.

Mercedes-Benz has a long-standing partnership with Riot Games for the League of Legends Championship.

In 2021, the German carmaker designed a ring for the event’s winners. It has done the same for this year’s champions too.

This isn’t the first virtual show car Mercedes-Benz has revealed, but it will be the first to not receive a physical counterpart.

Mercedes-Benz revealed the AMG Vision Gran Turismo concept in 2013 for the racing simulator video game Gran Turismo 6.

This Mercedes-Benz concept was the first Vision Gran Turismo car and was later built as a real-life show car that was shown off at the Los Angeles motor show in 2013.

Other automakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mazda, Dodge, Bugatti, Peugeot, Audi, Porsche, and Suzuki have also revealed virtual concept cars that can be driven in the Gran Turismo video games series.