BMW Berlin Brawl: Esports stars go back in time to the 1980s at LVL World of Gaming – FNATIC defends its title.

Munich. The second edition of the Berlin Brawl took the United in Rivalry teams supported by BMW and their fans back in time. On Monday, players from G2 Esports, FNATIC, OG Esports and FunPlus Phoenix met at LVL World of Gaming in Berlin (GER) and entered unfamiliar territory. Instead of showing off their skills in League of Legends, Dota 2 or Valorant, they entered the world of arcade games and duelled each other in three cult classics from the 1980s: Vulgus, Strider and Street Fighter II Turbo. Victory went to FNATIC, as it did last year. In keeping with the ethos of the Berlin Brawl, hosted by Eefje Depoortere, as Official Automotive Partner at LVL World of Gaming, BMW showcased a real cult car, the Ken Done BMW M3 Art Car from 1989.

“This Berlin Brawl with a retro look reminded us once again that the obsession with Esports and gaming is not a new phenomenon, it has decades of tradition,” said Ingmar Johannsen, Head of BMW Esports. “Congratulations to Bwipo and FNATIC, who had also edged it against G2 Esports at the Brawl premiere in 2020. Once again LVL World of Gaming was a fantastic stage for our United in Rivalry derby. It’s fantastic that this event got our collaboration as Official Automotive Partner off to a spectacular start. At times there were more than 12,000 viewers following the Berlin Brawl at the same time on Twitch. The response from the community was very positive. Thank you to all teams who got involved in this journey to the 1980s.”

BMW Esports teams were represented by the players Caps, Mikyx (both G2 Esports), Bean, Bwipo (both FNATIC), N0tail (OG Esports) and ANGE1 (FunPlus Phoenix) in Berlin. The challenge was to modify their skills perfected for modern games to suit three cult classics. Bwipo was the most successful, beating Caps in the final.

To celebrate both the arcade game era in the 1980s and the new partnership between BMW and LVL World of Gaming, the BMW M3 Art Car of artist Ken Done from 1989 was on display in Berlin. There is a long tradition of BMW Art Cars. From the 1970s to today, world-famous artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jeff Koons have immortalized themselves with their designs on BMW racing and road cars. The BMW M3 made its debut in 1987, the same year that the Vulgus game was released, and the first Street Fighter. Street Fighter II Turbo followed in 1992, the same year in which the second-generation BMW M3 was launched.

As part of the Berlin Brawl, BMW also gave fans the opportunity to get further acquainted with The Rival Rig, which had made its debut at the BMW Esports Boost at the end of June. This visionary Esports hardware is the first product from the virtual RIVALWORKS technology factory. The Berlin Brawl was also the first event made available for the community to follow on the new BMW Esports Discord server. BMW will now also present itself to fans on this communication platform used by gamers around the world at www.discord.gg/bmwesports.

About BMW Esports.

BMW has been collaborating with five of the world’s best teams as a partner in the classic League of Legends game since 2020. Cloud 9, FNATIC, FunPlus Phoenix, G2 Esports and T1 fly the BMW colours in the biggest events in the industry. The highlight of the first collaborative season in 2020 was the Worlds, in which G2 esports and FNATIC made it to the knock-out stage of the finals in the battle of the world’s best teams. G2 Esports even made it to the semi-final. The Dota 2 specialists OG Esport are a new addition to the ‘United in Rivalry’ squad as of 2021. The involvement in Esports gives BMW completely new touch points with a dynamic, rapidly growing community; making Esports an important future field for BMW marketing activities. BMW has prominent representatives in sim racing as well, and has integrated BMW SIM Racing into its racing programme as a standalone pillar. The BMW SIM Cups attract the world’s best sim racers, who do battle for wins, titles and attractive cash prizes in virtual BMW racing cars. BMW SIM Racing teams are taking part for the first time in 2021. BS+COMPETITION, G2 Esports, Team GB and Team Redline represent BMW on various simulation platforms.