Hyundai Levels Up at gamescom With INSTEROID Concept Car and Retro Arcade Game

Hyundai Motor is stepping into the gaming arena with a bold, retro-futuristic flair. Making its debut at gamescom 2025, the world’s largest gaming convention, the company has introduced its INSTEROID concept car alongside a self-developed INSTEROID Retro Arcade game—an ambitious blend of vintage gaming aesthetics and next-gen electric vehicle (EV) design. 

From Roads to Joysticks: Hyundai’s Gaming Debut 

Hyundai’s presence at gamescom’s ‘Retro & Family Area’ is a first for any car manufacturer. The brand’s interactive booth at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany, offers a fully immersive experience for fans of both cars and classic arcade games. The centerpieces? The eye-catching INSTEROID concept car—an imaginative reinterpretation of the company’s real-world INSTER EV—and a maze-style arcade game that puts the concept vehicle in the starring role. 

But this isn’t just a quirky marketing campaign. It’s a strategic shift in Hyundai’s brand storytelling. With younger audiences increasingly immersed in gaming and digital platforms, Hyundai aims to connect with a new generation of drivers by showing up where they play—and telling its mobility story through interactivity, creativity, and nostalgia. 

“Gaming has become a vital part of everyday digital culture for younger audiences,” said Sungwon Jee, SVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Hyundai. “At gamescom, we’re delivering a unique brand experience that bridges mobility and gaming for digital natives.” 

Meet INSTEROID: The EV That Plays the Game 

Originally unveiled in March 2025, the INSTEROID is a stylized concept version of Hyundai’s popular INSTER subcompact EV. Drawing visual and UX inspiration from the pixelated worlds of classic video games, the car embodies a playful fusion of design and technology. 

The INSTEROID Retro Arcade game brings this concept to life on screen, featuring a two-stage experience: 

• Power Up: Players collect steroid-can-shaped electricity to evolve the INSTER into INSTEROID. 
• Final Showdown: The evolved vehicle must outsmart the final boss within a dynamic maze. 

All visuals and sounds in the game are pulled directly from the INSTEROID’s UX design, creating a seamless brand crossover between the digital and physical. The game is played on an authentic arcade-style machine at Hyundai’s booth, where top players can even get their likenesses turned into in-game characters. 

Beyond the Game: Sound, Storytelling, and EV Innovation 

Visitors can also explore the INSTEROID’s UX features, including the BeatHouse sound system and bespoke audio elements triggered by specific actions—boarding, idling, drifting, and more—turning every drive into a fully sensory experience. 

The move into gaming is more than just a playful experiment. It complements Hyundai’s broader marketing strategy to expand digital storytelling and further promote its EV lineup, particularly the INSTER, which is already turning heads across Europe and beyond. 

After winning World Electric Vehicle of the Year at the 2025 World Car Awards and being named Best Small Electric Car for the City by UK-based What Car?, the INSTER has emerged as a major force in the urban EV market. The INSTEROID showcase helps underscore this momentum while adding a fun and futuristic spin. 

Coming Soon: From Cologne to the World 

The INSTEROID experience isn’t confined to gamescom. Hyundai has launched a dedicated gaming space at Casper Studio Busan in Korea and will expand to Casper Studio Seoul later this year. The game will also appear at major mobility shows in Turin and Tokyo, and an online version is set to roll out on Hyundai’s official global website 

and Instagram, ensuring fans around the world can get in on the action. 

Press Start 

With INSTEROID, Hyundai isn’t just showcasing a concept car—it’s gamifying its brand and driving into new cultural spaces. This move marks a refreshing, unexpected step for an automaker traditionally known for performance and practicality. Now, Hyundai is showing that it’s ready to play—and win—in the digital world, too.