Codemasters adds "Stay Home Save Lives" messaging into rally game
Codemasters has added "Stay Home Save Lives" messages to its DiRT Rally 2.0 game in an effort to increase public safety amid the coronavirus crisis
With almost 48,000 COVID-19 cases in the UK, the government has reinforced its instruction for all citizens to stay at home aside from essential travel or work.
To assist with the delivery of the message, UK gamers playing Codemasters' DiRT Rally 2.0 title will now see road-side banners displaying Public Health England's "Stay Home Save Lives" slogan.
"We came to realise that technology within our games, which enables the remote updating of banners within the virtual environment, could be repurposed to assist with the coronavirus communication effort," said Codemasters' vice-president of business development Toby Evan-Jones.
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"This week, through collaboration with Bidstack Group PLC [providers of the ad-replacement infrastructure], we began delivering a version of Public Health England's "Stay Home Save Lives" message into DiRT Rally 2.0.
"It's fantastic to see conversations already being sparked amongst our community."
Codemasters hopes to expand this messaging beyond the UK to aid coronavirus prevention efforts across the world.
It comes as more motorsport companies and figures have volunteered resources and services to assist in the fight against COVID-19.
Former McLaren CEO Ron Dennis has contributed £1m towards a new initiative to provide meals for front-line NHS workers, while World Endurance Championship LMP2 squad Jota Sport has produced its first batch of 3D-printed facemasks that will be donated to the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London.
Last month, Codemasters released DiRT Rally 2.0 Game of the Year Edition, which includes 81 rally and rallycross cars and 26 locations.
It features officially licensed World Rallycross Championship content, as well as bonus content centred around 1995 world rally champion Colin McRae.
The bonus content features 40 scenarios of varying difficulty across stages from McRae's career through the 1980s to the 2000s.
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