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At the all-digital gamescom 2021 this week, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios are showcasing an all-new Forza Horizon 5 gameplay with the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE ‘Forza Horizon Edition’ as the star. The unique Forza Horizon Edition possible has an exclusive body livery that emphasises its unique character and makes it clear that this car will not be available for purchase in the real world. In addition to the Forza Horizon Edition, the AMG hypercar can also be configured in other equipment and colours.

The virtual counterpart of the hypercar with Formula 1 drive technology is presented in extremely detailed graphics and the currently highest fidelity in the digital world. Players are immersed in a hyper-real open world in which the landscape of Mexico is recreated.

Mercedes-AMG Project ONE in Forza 5

The special experience of driving the ultimate top model from the high-performance subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz is also amazingly realistic. Virtual acceleration, braking, steering and agility as well as active aerodynamics correspond to the features of the actual model which has yet to be launched.

Close cooperation between Mercedes-AMG and Microsoft’s Forza team has enabled hyper-realistic representation of the special features of the unique 2-door car. With the different ‘Track’ and ‘Road’ driving programmes, dusty tracks in Mexico can be mastered just as dynamically as asphalt highways. The active aerodynamics of the hypercar are also meticulously recreated. The gaming community can look forward to breathtaking driving performance, with more than 1,000 ps of virtual power and a digital top speed of over 350 km/h.

“The Mercedes-AMG Project ONE is strictly limited to 275 units in the real world. We’re delighted that there’s now a perfect digital variant exclusively in Forza Horizon 5. Thanks to our close cooperation with Microsoft, we can now virtually offer the unique driving experience of our hypercar to a large group of enthusiasts in the best and most impressive way currently available on the gaming scene,” said Philipp Schiemer, Chairman of the Board of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.

“We have featured Mercedes-AMG vehicles in every Forza game; however, this is the first time we’ve partnered to feature a Mercedes-AMG vehicle on the cover of a Forza game. I cannot imagine a more exciting car to start with than the amazing Mercedes-AMG Project ONE,” added Alan Hartman, Vice-President of Forza Racing Franchise, Xbox Game Studios. He added that other performance vehicles from Mercedes-AMG are also available in Forza Horizon 5.

Mercedes-AMG Project ONE in Forza 5

Forza Horizon 5, the follow-up the popular simulator released in 2018, the open-world Forza Horizon 4 driving, takes the Horizon Festival to the very realistic and vibrantly presented Mexico. Featuring the largest, most diverse open world ever in a Forza Horizon game, Forza Horizon 5 is set against a vibrant, ever-evolving landscape with nearly limitless driving action across living deserts, lush jungles, historic cities, hidden ruins, pristine beaches, vast canyons and a towering snow-capped volcano – the highest point ever in a Horizon game. The game will be available globally on November 9 for the current consoles of the Xbox family, including Windows PC.

Mercedes-AMG Project ONE
Revealed in 2017, the Mercedes-AMG Project ONE is still under development. It will be a road-legal hypercar with only 275 units to be produced, Each one is priced from 2.28 million euros (around RM11.38 million) and all have already been booked.

Increased track testing for Mercedes-AMG Project ONE prototype

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For the first time, Porsche Asia Pacific and Porsche Cars Australia have teamed up with Forza Motorsport 7 to run a simulation racing tournament. Known as  the Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup, it will see some of the best sim racers in the region compete on the Forza Motorsport 7 tracks of Bathurst, Nurburgring, Le Mans, Silverstone and Hockenheimring.

Qualifiers
The races will begin in a Porsche 918 Spyder which holds the distinction of being the first series production car to beat the lap record of 7 minutes at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in 2013. The race will take place on the rollercoaster Bathurst track which offers an extraordinary mix of 23 fast and slow corners, and gradients of up to 16%.

Porsche ESports

Subsequent qualifying rounds, to be held in October, will use the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife, in the 911 GT3 RS, and then Le Mans with the 919 Hybrid. Finally, the top 16 players, limited to a maximum of three from one country, will compete to bring home the first Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup over two races in a Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

The Finals
The first of the final races will be at the Silverstone track after which the finalists will then go head to head for their second finals race at the Hockenheimring. All 16 finalists and the top 3 participants of the finals will win prizes from the Porsche Driver’s Selection and HUGO BOSS, the official sponsor of the Porsche Asia Pacific Forza Cup.

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The titleholder will win an opportunity to race on a real track during a track experience at the Porsche Experience Centre in Hockenheimring, Germany, in 2021.

The tournament is currently open for registrations online from players from the Asia Pacific region. They must hold a Xbox game pass and have either access to a PC, Xbox One, Xbox One S, or Xbox One X. Click here to sign up, or find out more about the race details and points scoring system.

Porsche in Esports
Porsche’s involvement in Esports or sim racing – also referred to as digital motorsports by the  FIA – goes back some 3 years and has been growing in recent times, especially this year when real-world racing was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Porsche ESports

Porsche ESports

“Racing games and Esports connect the real and virtual worlds and enable us to gain further access to the young target group. It means that they can develop a passion for Porsche even before buying their first sportscar”, said a senior executive of the company.

One of its major sim racing events – the Porsche Esports Supercup –  was included in a gala event to honour the successes of the teams and driers in motorsport. Porsche was the first major carmaker to recognise the achievements of virtual racers at the same event as their real-world racing peers.

The expanding universe of eSports

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Fans of the Fast and Furious movie franchise might have an avenue to live out their fantasies in the virtual world through the Xbox exclusive game, Forza Motorsport 7. There is a 10-car pack available for the game that has all the extreme cars featured in the 7th installment of the blockbuster movie series.

The vehicles depicted in the game are extremely accurate, right down to the colour combinations, aesthetic details and their own unique quirks. The most noteworthy and jovial addition to the car pack however, has to be the Chevrolet Fleetline Special.

It was a vintage vehicle use by character Dominic Torreto to compete in an epic, CGI focused race in the heart of Havana, Cuba. Losing trim panels as the race progressed, the Fleetline Special was driven which such gusto while trying to avoid the baddies, that it caught fire towards the end of the race.

https://youtu.be/RmxUlJSnU4Q

Though many considered the scene a bit too far fetched, the excellently choreographed stunts and meticulous level of CGI detailing made for an enthralling movie scene, one for the Fast and Furious record books.

Besides this vehicle, there are a number of other noteworthy mentions that include the weird but functional Rally Fighter, Jaguar F-Type, Dodge Demon and a Plymouth GTX. Evidently, the movie franchise seems to cherry pick its star vehicles based on their actual appeal in the automotive world, which is a very good thing for car fans.

The Dodge Demon, is the most powerful road legal, drag-ready muscle car that is currently available to the public. It is powered by a 840bhp engine that is able to cover the quarter mile in under 10 seconds, a fitting choice for Dominic Torreto.

Known for his love of Dodge made vehicles, the movie character has used several Chargers, including the modern one, Challengers as well as a number of others. But the following is the list of 10 vehicles featured in the new car pack:

  • Plymouth GTX
  • Chevrolet Corvette
  • Subaru WRX STI
  • Local Motors Rally Fighter
  • Subaru BRZ
  • Jaguar F-Type
  • Chevrolet Fleetline Special
  • Dodge Demon
  • Mercedes-Benz GTS
  • Dodge Charger

The Fate of the Furious car pack will only be made available to those who own the Deluxe and Ultimate Edition bundles of Forza Motorsports 7. Check out the picture gallery below and admire the vehicles that will be featured in the Forza Motorsport 7 game.

Porsche is starting to take the virtual world more seriously as its marketing tool. The sportscar maker has signed a six year deal with Microsoft at the New York International Motorshow, which will see both companies collaborating in projects that cover racing games and electronic gaming competitions. As such, in future games from Microsoft’s Forza franchise, Porsche vehicles will receive more prominence than if ever did before. This will especially be evident in the gaming series Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon.

This partnership will allow Porsche to delve deeper into the eSports arena, which are competitions designed for gamers to compete against each other in their preferred gaming genre. This is especially true with Forza Racing Championship (ForzaRC), which is the leading eSport racing series backed by the world’s largest racing community.

ForzaRC, Porsche’s prime focus for now, is based on the current Xbox racing game Forza Motorsport 6 which already includes more than 20 Porsche vehicles since 2016. For 2017, ForzaRC will feature a motorsport championship too, where gamers from around the world can compete on the world stage. If you are interested, registration opened on 12th April 2017 at http://www.forzarc.gfinity.net/ and qualification will take place online beginning May 1st.

“By having Microsoft as our partner, we have the opportunity to take the pleasure of driving a Porsche and making it an experience in the virtual world”, says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. “Racing games and eSports connect the real and virtual worlds and enable us to gain further access to the young target group. It means that they can develop a passion for Porsche even before buying their first sports car.”

As icing on the cake for the newly signed partnership, a new Porsche package can now be downloaded for Forza Horizon 3. It contains a total of seven current and historical Porsche vehicles,that are the 550A Spyder, 718 RS 60 Spyder from 1960, 911 Carrera RS 2.7 from 1973, 911 GT2 (type 993), Cayman GT4 and the 911 GT3 RS as well as the new Panamera Turbo.

So, if you own an Xbox, are into the Forza franchise and a die hard Porsche fan, you should be very happy with this partnership. You can expect to see a number of interesting projects from both companies in the near future.

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