What Does the New Hummer Have to Do With Fortnite?
As automotive technology grows in demand, the automakers have had to turn to more traditional tech industries such as programmers and now even video games. The new GMC Hummer EV has steered into this sector full force by building the Hummer’s infotainment system around the Unreal Engine that brought us gaming massive titles like “Rocket League” and “Fortnite.”
GM has been boasting the former dinosaur’s introduction into the 21st century with the battery-powered Hummer to be revealed in just a few weeks.
A new kind of engine is introduced to the auto world
The Unreal Engine is nothing new to anyone involved in the world of video games. It has been the driving force behind literally 100s of popular video games over the last 20 years. Whether or not someone is into video games or not, “Fortnite” has become a household name over the past few years. Although it is a staple in the gaming world, this will be the first time the Unreal Engine will be used in a car’s infotainment system.
Autoblog reports that GM hasn’t stated which version of the Unreal Engine we can expect to see in the new Hummer EV. We can assume that the GMC Hummer EV will likely have the fourth version of the gaming engine because the fifth and latest version has yet to be released by Epic, who owns the Unreal Engine.
From the ashes rise the GMC Hummer EV
As Autoblog points out, the Hummer was famously killed in 2010, following growing environmental concerns around the civilian monster truck. They were huge and extremely inefficient vehicles whose market had shrunk to an unsustainable few.
When GM announced that they would be remaking the Hummer but in a way that was sensitive to the times, it had many people excited to see what they would come up with. GMC did not disappoint with the announcement that the all-new and significantly improved Hummer EV. GM’s take on the Hummer will make a monstrous 1,000 hp and silly 11,500 lb-ft of torque. The really wild part is that GM says the Hummer will bust a 3-second 0-60 mph time. In a different Autoblog article, a GM spokesperson said in a deadpan tone, “We came to play ball.” Hell, I’d say so.
There’s still plenty of mystery
Autoblog goes on to say that, while Epic did release a trailer announcing the Hummer’s adoption of the gaming engine, they still haven’t told us much about what the Hummer’s infotainment screen will look like.
However, Epic does tell us that the system will have insanely fast boot-up times, over-air updating (which is commonly used in the video game industry), and powerful, 3D rendering graphics.
It is still unclear what the Hummer’s’s infotainment will offer that requires such powerful graphics, but if you know anything about the Unreal Engine, it will likely be exciting. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m ready to play some video games in a Hummer.
