McLaren Launches New Celebrity Esports Racing Series

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on January 6th, 2021 in the Esports category.

 

Interesting; I wonder what games they'll use. I imagine F1 is an obvious preference.

 

I assume Craig David will have asked that they use Forza, so he can re-rewind.

sorry.

 

Can’t wait for Logan Paul vs. KSI sim-racing edition

 

This maybe slightly interesting or an utter cringe fest, I'm guessing the latter, as Rory Reid is quite a good presenter and he may have to wrestle all those ego's into check. Since we all know what happened last time when YouTube douches and celebs where let loose on video racing games.

 

Pandering to celebrities will not help McLaren much amongst serious car enthusiasts who aspire to own premium sports cars. If this is the route they are going to pursue they should release an SUV or two to sell to the people who'll tune in and be excited to watch people who don't know much about racing, race.

 

“Aight lemme check his monthly mileage”

 

And so the real gamers are out!!!!

 

Do you think the crowd will say bo?

I'm curious and I need more details on this, can you fill me in? Is it gonna start on a Monday? Take it for a spin on Tuesday? Then they're making quali on Wednesday? And on Thursday and Friday and Saturday, and then race on Sunday?

( I'm really really sorry @Famine )

 

Well, with what I know about celebrities and the expensive cars they've totally written off in a "watch this" moment, I'd say this is probably a pretty good idea - far safer and costs far less.

 

Can we have an esports series catered to helping actual amateurs develop instead of cringe fests with celebrities and influencers?

 

I am so fed up with celebrities, who cares?
This world is so shallow, get the real gamers involved. Not some bunch of Z list losers.
Nearly every program on TV is some celebrity rubbish. It’s the last thing we need.

 

Somebody at Mclaren is either too young and noobish to not know the customer base too well to organise such an abysmal event.

"Revealing the series, the nicotine pouch brand noted that fans could participate and race against celebrities, with prizes on offer that include games consoles and Velo-branded race gear"

on their YT channel: WE WERE LYFT, NOW WE’RE VELO.

Who in the blue hell are VELO anyways, another death-stick brand the world does not need in this climate! Shockingly bad.

 

Damn McLaren, exposing sim racing to a potentially very large audience!

Even though I have no interest in watching this, anytime a hobby of mine can get some increased exposure I'm all for it. After all, the more interest there is in something the more money will be invested in that thing and the overall experience of said thing will improve for everybody.

 

I dont see any enthusiasts there, just celebs, being celebs.

 

Enthusiasts don't just appear out of thin air, they need to be introduced to the topic somehow. Just look at Paul Newman, prior to Winning he was just a "celebrity being a celebrity" but after filming that movie he fell in love with motorsports and was very much involved right up to the day he died. I doubt a similar thing will happen with this contest, but who knows, a few people watching may get hooked and become fans of sim racing (or the "real" thing) itself.

 

cringe fest

 

Ah, so like every other eSports sim racing series by this point, including GT Academy, which this site has advertised countless times over the years it has been active.

 

The goal with many of these events is advertising and brand awareness, which is why they gravitate towards people that they hope generate the most views possible. Amateur drivers don't provide that, unless they're famous.

FIA Rally Star too, which kicked off this past year; using games to find a real rally driver (and McLaren's WFG initiative in the past).

 

I wonder whether they can outdo themselves after the awful Shadow live event. That was one of the worst productions ever.

 

Oh god, a lot of the comments in here failing to see the bigger picture and identifying why this makes sense.

If you want something to grow larger, you need to stop behaving as if it's an exclusive niche secret treehouse club and screaming like a pig under a gate whenever a celebrity does anything remotely linked to sim racing.

The whole point of celebrity involvement is that they bring their fanbase towards sim racing and expose them to it, and just because you personally haven't heard of someone from inside your little bubble, doesn't mean no one else has.

Case in point being Craig David who's had a massive ongoing resurgence in recent years thanks to his TS5 sets and been a regular in the charts.

This is no different to when WWF did "Rock 'n' Wrestling" Connection.

 

The more people know racing the better,maybe it's a fun event,or maybe it's a cringe fest either way simracing wins

 

Wouldn't mind tuning in to this.

 

l "may" tune in only for the cringey fails/memes/videos created once this "contest" gets all filmed and wrapped up. Thank you Famine about the distinction in the Mclaren groups, and for always pointing it out.

 

Well it's not entertainment for everyone, just deal with it. Personally I'm not into eSports and I'm definitely not into celeb eSports. Not gonna prevent other people from watching and potentially enjoying the series.

 

Your right on one thing....it's not entertainment.