Ford Goes Gaming with Virtual F-150 Edition

The F-150 is poised to be a virtual soccer superstar.

The Ford F-150 is now available in a competition version. It has nothing to do the Raptor. The pickup is now available in the virtual world as a new vehicle for the soccer-inspired game Rocket League. The Blue Oval will also sponsor the Rocket League Championship Series Winter Majors Esports Tournament.

Only the F-150 in Rocket League is available February 20-28. The package includes the truck as well as two sets of wheels, engine sound, an animated boost, and a player banner.

Ford’s designers collaborated with Rocket League‘s developers to ensure that the F-150 was realistic and matched the game’s whimsical aesthetic. It’s a vehicle that is rounder than the real one, but still has identifiable cues such as the window shape and headlights.

Ford Goes Gaming with Virtual F-150 Edition

Ehab Kaoud (chief designer Ford trucks) stated, “It had been an F-150 but it fits within Psyonix’s extreme virtual universe pairing soccer and mayhem.”

Ford sees an opportunity to market during gaming events such as the Rocket League Winter Majors. Between matches, an F-150 will be on hand to fix the pitch and repaint the boundary lines. A real F-150 from 2021 will be given away by the company as a prize at the Rocket League Freestyle Invitational, where players will display their best tricks to a panel of judges.

Rocket League is one of the most popular online competition games. This mode is a fast-paced version of soccer where two teams try to launch a ball towards a goal. Instead of kicking the ball, players launch their vehicles into it. It takes skill to hit the ball precisely towards the target, just like in real life.