Why Car Brands Need to Treat Gamers as Future Customers
Gaming is no longer just entertainment, it’s a major cultural force. For car brands, gamers represent not just potential buyers but engaged, tech-savvy ambassadors. Ignoring them risks missing the next wave of loyalty and influence.
Digital Population You Can’t Ignore
UK consumers spent £7.63bn on video games in 2024. That’s a market that’s roughly doubled since 2013 and still among Europe’s leaders. VGC+2Ukie+2
Among adults, 52% say they play games (on- or offline). Among young people, it’s basically ubiquitous: 97% of 8–17s play online games, and 89% of 11–18s game weekly.
In other words, the next decade of buyers will grow up test-driving cars with a controller. www.ofcom.org.uk+2www.ofcom.org.uk+2
Racing Games = Passion + Influence
Among Britons who play racing games on console or PC: 76% are men, 24% women; they skew younger but include a big slice aged 35-54. That means there’s both identity and spending power in the mix. YouGov
Racing gamers are more likely than average gamers to spend time, money, and attention: 41% of them play over 7 hours/week vs 31% of all gamers. They engage deeply. YouGov
These players often value realism, customisation, in-game branding, and accessories—all things car brands are perfectly placed to deliver.
What Car Brands Are Already Getting Right (and Missing)
What’s working:
Partnerships & sponsorships in esports or racing games (e.g. brands showing up in game worlds, branded cosmetic items like virtual liveries).
In-game placements and virtual showrooms help brands reach players early, before many traditional buyers even form a car preference.
Tailored content (trailers, virtual test drives, modded cars in games) generates buzz.
What’s being under-utilised:
Deeper co-creation: letting gamers influence real car design (colours, trims) via digital vote-in features.
Virtual-to-physical crossover: using game designs to inspire limited edition real cars or merch.
Capturing feedback loops: what gamers like in racing games (handling, visuals, customisation) can feed trend forecasting for real car development.
The Cultural & Business Case
Gamers are early adopters and often heavy tech users. They care about digital capability, performance, visuals, and identity—all increasingly relevant to EVs, in-car tech, autonomous features.
The crossover between gaming culture and car culture builds brand loyalty. When players see a brand they love in their game, it builds familiarity and trust—even before they’ve test-driven or bought a car.
Engaging gamers early helps with long-term retention. As generations raised with digital immersion age, their expectations of car brands (online, experiential, interactive) will differ. Brands that lean into that will win.
What Auto Culture Society Sees Ahead
At Auto Culture Society, we believe that gaming isn’t a side channel—it’s central. We’re exploring designs that live in games first (liveries, virtual concept cars), then in real life. We create content that reaches gamers directly, building culture, not just broadcast. Gamers influence design trends, aesthetics, tech expectations—and we’re positioned to bridge that. We prototype designs in-game first (liveries, virtual concepts), translate the winners into physical drops (merch, prints, accessories), and build content that meets gamers where they actually hang out.
Takeaway
Car brands that treat gamers as future customers are investing in culture, identity, and loyalty. If you show up digitally, meaningfully, and creatively in the gaming world, you’re not just selling cars—you’re becoming part of a conversation that influences what cars people want, how they see them, and how they live with them.
💬 Which gamified collaborations have you seen from car brands lately that stood out? What would you want to see next?
Auto Culture Society™ Cars. Culture. Connected.
🗓 Articles are published every Tuesday and Thursday
