Tencent, Mercedes-Benz, and Electronic Arts (EA) have announced a new partnership focused on in-vehicle gaming.
Through it, a new open-world mobile racing game called ‘Need for Speed: Assemble’, will be available in Mercedes-Benz cars across China before the end of 2024. The game is currently available on compatible smartphones in the region, and will be made available to drivers through over-the-air (OTA) on Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with the third generation of MBUX, the OEM’s proprietary in-vehicle multimedia system.
The new mobile game was launched amid the popular ‘Need for Speed’ gaming franchise that just celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024. It is an open world racing game developed by Tencent’s TiMi Studio and licensed by Electronic Arts. Building on the success of the ‘Need for Speed franchise that has already been played by hundreds of millions of players worldwide, this new game combines street driving and track racing on internationally recognized circuits and fictional cities. Users will be able to use either their Bluetooth gaming controller or play the game via the touch-sensitive screens to play the game when the vehicle is stationary.
Tencent and Mercedes-Benz have been cooperating in the field of smart vehicles for many years. In 2015, Tencent and Mercedes-Benz launched ‘MyCar,’ to revolutionize the in-car experience for Chinese users. They signed a memorandum in July 2022 to strategically collaborate to explore high-level automated driving, utilizing cloud computing, big data, and AI. This marks a new start, driving innovation in in-car gaming and cloud services, and advancing intelligent automotive experiences.