Hyundai built an off-road concept bristling with armored body panels, chunky off-road wheels and tires, a lifted suspension, and a full catalog of rock-crawling accessories. The only problem for anyone itching to drive it: it doesn’t exist in physical form. The Crater Concept lives entirely inside a video game.
Engineers at the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California, created the Crater to preview the automaker’s evolving XRT off-road design language. It’s an EV, naturally. Its rugged styling is supposed to signal where Hyundai sees off-road-capable electric vehicles heading. Whether it ever gets built is an open question — Hyundai says only that, with enough interest, it might bring some of these digital creations to life.
For now, the Crater exists in The Crew Motorfest, Ubisoft’s open-world driving game set on O’ahu with roughly 10 million players worldwide. It’s the first vehicle a Korean automaker has dropped into the game. Hyundai says it wasn’t just angling to park its badge in the garage; the collaboration is pitched as a way to show off the “personality” behind its growing XRT lineup.
The Crater arrives with the game’s season 11 update, which centers on off-road driving. That update also brings a new winch mechanic, letting players haul themselves out of trouble or clear obstacles from the trail. Players can modify the Crater, show it off in the community-based Custom Show mode, or cook up their own trails with TrackForge, the game’s course-building tool.
The Crew Motorfest arrived in 2023. It mixes realistic vehicle models with festival-style events, deep customization, and a roster running from classic muscle cars to modern supercars.
Hyundai has been busy chasing players who don’t read car ads. It was among the first globals to set up a branded experience on Roblox, then teamed with Epic Games on Fortnite and Rocket League promotions, and appeared in Asphalt Legends and Top Eleven. More Hyundais are headed into the game in future updates, whether anyone asked for them or not.
[Images: Chevrolet]
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