Ford has asked gamers to help it design what the firm is describing as ‘the ultimate virtual racing car’.
Set to be crafted from the ground up, with no basis taken from a real-world model, the upcoming ‘Team Fordzilla — P1’ project will see captains of Ford’s esports teams from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK work directly with the Ford of Europe design team.
Additionally, a series of Twitter polls from its @TeamFordzilla account will allow followers to have their say on key design attributes — include the likes of the engine and its cockpit shape.
It’s not confirmed when this new virtual racer will be revealed or what its purpose will be, but a likely destination for the vehicle could be the Forza Motorsport series. Ford and owners of the Xbox brand Microsoft have had close ties for a number of years that has seen a series of the car manufacturer’s vehicles sit at the spotlight of the Forza racing game franchise.
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These include revealing the latest GT alongside confirmation of Forza Motorsport 6 in 2015, along with the video game debut of the Ranger Raptor in Forza Horizon 4 last year.
A new Xbox console, the Series X, is set to arrive on the market later in 2020 and its thought Forza Motorsport 8 will launch alongside it. It’s possible this is where Ford’s virtual machine could debut.
Amko Leenarts, Ford of Europe director of Design, said: “Coming up with a no-holds barred race car for the virtual world is when the gloves come off and the design team can really let their imaginations fly. The expertise of gamers is crucial to ensuring that this will be the best-looking car on the grid.”
