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‘Lego 2K Drive’ Video Game to Launch in May; Execs Tease Yoda-Like Character, Year 1 Updates and More

Lego’s answer to “Mario Kart” will drive into the video game market in May with the arrival of “Lego 2K Drive.” But the execs behind the title assure Variety this game has way more to it than just racing.

The driving adventure game comes from Take-Two Interactive publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts, and will feature a game play experience “with a vast, open world where players can build any vehicle, drive anywhere and become a Lego racing legend.”

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“Yes, it is a racing experience but, actually, it’s just about enjoying driving and digging into those things that you can only really get if you’re adding Lego into the mix,” Kate Bryant, head of licensed games at Lego, told Variety. “So the cars transform — that’s super Lego-y, the idea that you can take and remix things and build your own cars.”

Alison Bakunowich, VP of global marketing for 2K, added that the game is specifically titled “Drive” because “it is more than racing.” “It’s exploration and it’s open world,” Bakunowich said. “There’s such rich characters and stories, so many side quests and mini games. You’ll be driving past the town folk who are doing things, when you drive past them later, they’ve completed their task. And honestly, just smashing stuff is so much fun. Again, that’s Lego. The bricks just go flying and the sound is so satisfying. And in the garage, you can build any vehicle you want, which is so core to Lego. And you can compete, and competition means different things to different people. It might mean completion or it might mean mastery or building something that you’re so proud of. Or it might be beating your dad, for sure. But the driving concept gives you all of those elements.”

Per 2K, key features of “Lego 2K Drive” include:

A Story in a Vast Open World: Players will journey across Bricklandia’s multiple unique biome regions as they compete against a series of charismatic rivals with hopes of one day winning the coveted Sky Cup Trophy. In “Lego 2K Drive,” players choose how they want to play, with a wide open world to explore full of racing, minigames, challenges, collectibles, things to destroy, and well-known vehicles from Lego themes like City, Creator, Speed Champions and more.

High-Octane Lego Racing: Racing in “Lego 2K Drive” is a fast-paced, off-the-wall experience as players battle across a broad range of tracks while taking advantage of unique power-up abilities that can transform a player’s standing in the race with the touch of a button.

Unique Customization: “Lego 2K Drive” introduces a diverse customization system that allows players to build their own vehicles to suit their tastes, with over 1,000 unique Lego pieces available over the course of their adventure, in addition to a wealth of color designs, stickers, flairs, and more.

Play Solo or Together: “Lego 2K Drive” offers robust co-op and thrilling competitive multiplayer to enjoy with others. Play with family and friends via local, 2-person split-screen or match online with other intrepid racers of similar skill levels.

“Lego 2K Drive” marks the first release in a multi-title partnership between 2K and Lego to develop several AAA games.

Three editions of “Lego 2K Drive” will be available, with the standard option priced at $59.99 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch, and $69.99 on PlayStation®5 and Xbox Series X|S in both physical and digital formats.

The “Awesome” edition ($99.99) includes “a new vehicle, vehicle flair and an in-game Lego minifigure,” as well as a Year 1 Drive Pass, “which will introduce an all-new biome, in addition to four individual post-launch seasons of Drive Pass content, each with new vehicles and themes.” The “Awesome Rivals” edition ($119.99) will include everything in the Awesome option, as well as multiple additional vehicles, vehicle flairs and in-game minifigures.

The game will launch worldwide on May 19, with the Awesome and Awesome Rivals editions available digitally and in limited physical supply beginning May 16.

Via a collab with McLaren Automotive, the McLaren Solus GT and McLaren F1 LM, featured in a recently released double-pack build set from Lego, will be prominent vehicles in “Lego 2K Drive.”

See more than Variety‘s interview with Bakunowich and Bryant below to get all the insider details on what fans can expect from “Lego 2K Drive.”

With Lego being known for so many collaborations with iconic IP, including Batman, Star Wars and Harry Potter, can we expect to see those kinds of partnerships appear in this game — like would the Lego Batmobile be a vehicle option?

Kate Bryant: I think that’s an assumption a lot of people make when you’re talking about the Lego brand. We do something really special when you fuse us with those those well-known brands. McLaren cars will be in from the outset. And in terms of grander plans, I would say, watch this space because we do know that we do something really special when we’re fused with other IP.

But even on the box art for the game, there’s the McLaren Solus GT, and that opens the door to something that’s really special about “Lego 2K Drive,” which is the fact that it can have that cool relationship with what we’ve got on shelf. That car, I can also take and build in real life. And actually, it’s a really cool moment in the game where you first see that car. The way that you get it presented to you is within about 10 minutes of playing, you meet, on your hero’s journey part of of the game — because that’s a thread running through it, there is a narrative to the game — you meet Clutch Racington, who is going to be your Yoda. He’s somewhere between Evel Knievel and Steve McQueen. He’s a cool racing guy and you meet him and he’s like, “OK, kid, you’re gonna be in this race. You can borrow my car.” And then it’s the McLaren. So it’s that cool moment where people who come to this from loving racing games, they’re like, “OK, cool, this is gonna be my moment where I get to drive the awesome car,” people who are gearheads are going to be like, “I know that vehicle, that’s the Solus GT,” and Lego people are already going to be in there going, “Yes! I’m getting the Lego-fied version of this.”

And there’s just funny new vehicles, like the Chicken Car. Visual Concepts has really taken that Lego humor onboard and built cool, crazy stuff, like a big Chicken Car. It’s pretty much in every marketing asset.

Two of the marketed editions available for the game, the “Awesome” and “Awesome Rivals” options, come with a Year 1 Drive Pass which includes an “all-new biome, in addition to four individual post-launch seasons of Drive Pass content, each with new vehicles and themes.” What can you tease about this downloadable content and updates coming in Year 1?

Bryant: Again, watch this space. “Lego 2K Drive” has a really rich world and we wanna make sure that, at this point in time, that’s what people understand and get into. From a Lego perspective, this isn’t something that you’ve seen us do with our titles before, so this is really cool and exciting for a pre-existing Lego Games audience to come in and have something that really builds in relevance and is a rich textured world to begin with but evolves and stays current. There’s a huge amount that we can do with that and that we are doing with that — but right now it’s what you’re getting on Day 1, which is this awesome world.

Alison Bakunowich: Lego are the masters of brand integrations. On the season passes, it’s between getting deeper inside the Lego universe and making really authentic content.

“Lego 2K Drive” is the first game in a multi-title partnership between 2K and Lego. Are there other games in development already?

Bakunowich: We really can’t talk about it, because we want to get everyone excited about “Lego 2K Drive” and then we will make a further announcement in due time. But nice try.

Watch the trailer for “Lego 2K Drive” below.

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