Tencent, Mercedes-Benz, and Electronic Arts (EA) announced their partnership at Auto China 2024 to bring in-car gaming to Mercedes-Benz vehicles in China.
The new open-world mobile racing game, named ‘极品飞车™:集结’ in Chinese, which roughly translates to ‘Need for Speed: Assemble’, will be available in Mercedes-Benz cars in China by the end of the year. The game will be accessible via over-the-air (OTA) updates on Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with the third generation MBUX, a precursor to the Mercedes-Benz Operating System, MB.OS.
The new mobile game is part of the ‘Need for Speed gaming franchise, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024. Developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studio and licensed by Electronic Arts, the game combines street driving and track racing on internationally recognized circuits and fictional cities. Players will be able to use Bluetooth gaming controllers or touch-sensitive screens to play the game when the vehicle is stationary.
Tencent and Mercedes-Benz have been long-standing partners in the field of smart vehicles. In 2015, they launched ‘MyCar’. In July 2022, the companies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on exploring high-level automated driving, utilizing cloud computing, big data, and AI.