Esports event organiser and broadcaster Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO) has today (2nd November 2022) announced a collaboration with design studio MUNIQ Design in creating a range of bespoke sim racing vehicles specifically designed for esports.
Named ‘VCARUS – the Digital Race Car Manufactory,’ the project aims to produce virtual race cars that are not subject to the same rules and regulations as those commonly used in esports.
But VCARUS also promises to take inspiration from notable historic race cars, seemingly striving for the best of both worlds.
Plans are in place to create several cars across different sim racing platforms in future, with the first fruits of VCO and MUNIQ Design’s labours set to be unveiled at the ADAC SimRacing Expo in Nuremberg on the 4th of December this year. The team’s ultimate goal is to run the car exclusively in VCO’s Esports Racing World Cup (ERWC II) between 24th and 26th February 2023.
“VCARUS is perhaps the most exciting project we have embarked on with VCO. Esports racing provides the perfect stage for the development of a totally new brand, and bold and innovative race cars. The rooting in the world of real motorsports is one of the cornerstones of this Esports discipline,” said Florian Hasper, CEO of VCO.
“However, we are convinced that there is still room for totally new concepts, which acknowledge real motorsport, whilst at the same time opening the door to a new generation of race cars in the virtual world, which can be driven by hundreds of thousands of sim racers all over the world,” he continued.
“The very first time we met, Florian and I realised that this would be our collaborative project. As a passionate part-time sim racer, with Creative Director Marco Wietrzychowski leading a team of designers who love motor racing, we had the opportunity to realise every single aspect of a Racing Vision, from the initial idea to the virtual product,” said Christoph Sieber, Managing Director of Munich-based MUNIQ Design GmbH.
“Working together with VCO to create VCARUS and get it to the virtual racetrack in an innovative, creative and tangible manner for the international sim racing community shows that we have achieved this” Sieber stated.
MUNIQ Design predominantly works in the automotive design field, working with clients to help produce sustainable and functional products. It also has some experience in creating sim vehicles, having previously built an electric car mod for Assetto Corsa.
Are you excited at the prospect of VCO’s move into sim racing car creation? Let us know in the comments below.
*Image courtesy of MUNIQ Design GmbH.
