Hyundai Motor unveils 'Crater Concept' off-road electric SUV in video game before real world

Crater Concept appears in The Crew Motorfest season 11

Compact electric SUV points to future XRT design direction

Features winch, customization and off-road course creation

Gaming collaboration expands after Roblox and Fortnite tie-ups

Hyundai Motor's Crater Concept appears in The Crew Motorfest, Ubisoft's global open-world racing game. The compact electric SUV concept car reflects the future design direction of Hyundai Motor's off-road-focused XRT line. [Hyundai Motor]

Hyundai Motor is giving the public its first look at a future off-road electric SUV — not on a motor show floor, but inside a video game. Players can get behind the wheel of the concept car, which has not entered mass production, and drive it across muddy and rocky off-road terrain.

Hyundai Motor announced Thursday that it has unveiled the Crater Concept, a compact electric SUV, in The Crew Motorfest, Ubisoft's open-world racing game.

The Crater Concept is an off-road electric SUV concept car designed by Hyundai Motor America Technical Center. It is intended to show the design and performance direction that Hyundai Motor's off-road-focused XRT line will pursue going forward.

The decision to introduce the vehicle to consumers in a game before it appears on real roads is also notable. Hyundai Motor said it plans to expand touchpoints with younger customers by letting them experience the vehicle in a digital environment, as interest in cars increasingly extends into gaming and virtual spaces.

The Crater Concept serves as the signature vehicle for the off-road exploration theme of The Crew Motorfest season 11.

The Crew Motorfest is the latest entry in The Crew series, a racing game franchise Ubisoft has developed since 2014. Set in Hawaii, it lets players freely roam the open world in a variety of vehicles and compete in on-road and off-road racing events.

The in-game Crater Concept also comes equipped with features that reflect its off-road character.

Players can use a winch function — connecting a wire to pull the vehicle free when it gets stuck in mud or on rocks. They can also customize the vehicle's appearance and performance to their liking.

Users can even build their own off-road courses and share them with others. Using the TrackForge feature, players can design custom routes and race through them in the Crater Concept.

Through these features, the game recreates extreme off-road scenarios that would be difficult to experience in a production vehicle.

The XRT designation applied to the Crater Concept is an off-road-focused line that Hyundai Motor has operated primarily for the US market. It features a more rugged exterior than standard models and adds specifications suited for driving on unpaved roads.

Hyundai Motor currently offers both XRT and the more off-road-capable XRT PRO, and plans to expand the lineup to more models and markets. In South Korea, the company recently unveiled the all-new Tucson XRT, marking its push to grow the XRT line domestically.

Ji Sung-won, executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor's brand marketing division, said the way customers experience the brand and its vehicles is rapidly expanding into the gaming ecosystem. "This collaboration, themed around off-road exploration, will be a great opportunity to introduce the Crater Concept and the future direction of the XRT lineup to audiences around the world," he said. "We will continue to broaden our communication touchpoints through various gaming platforms at home and abroad, so that customers globally can encounter Hyundai Motor in a more familiar and diverse way."

A Ubisoft official said the Crater Concept is a perfect fit for the season's off-road theme for players who love cars and driving. "We are very pleased that our collaboration with Hyundai Motor allows us to bring gamers around the world a fresh sense of adventure," the official said.

This is not the first time Hyundai Motor has used gaming to promote its vehicles and brand. In 2021, it became the first global automaker to open an official virtual space on the gaming platform Roblox. The company later brought vehicles into Asphalt Legends and, in connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, partnered with Fortnite and Rocket League.

Starting with the Crater Concept, Hyundai Motor plans to introduce additional vehicles in future seasons of The Crew Motorfest on a rolling basis.

kwater@heraldcorp.com