Hyundai to host 2026 N Virtual Cup sim-racing in Seoul

Hyundai Motor Company will host the 2026 Hyundai N Virtual Cup, a sim‑racing esports tournament held in South Korea and organized with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the G‑STAR Organising Committee. Organizers described the event as the largest sim‑racing competition of its kind in the country.

The competition will use Gran Turismo 7, the driving simulator chosen as an official esports title for the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi‑Nagoya, Japan. Online qualifiers begin on Aug. 14, with the top 24 finishers advancing to the main event. Hyundai will also run separate matches for university students and for online creators and influencers.

Drivers will compete in a virtual version of the Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, a concept tied to Hyundai’s N high‑performance sub‑brand. Sim racing competitions typically use steering wheels and pedal setups to simulate realistic driving. Hyundai supplied sim‑racing equipment for a national team selection tournament in May.

Hyundai said the cup aims to increase interest in the N brand and support Korea’s game and esports industry. The company did not disclose prize money or projected participant numbers for the 2026 event.

In a translated statement, Park Jun‑woo, Senior Vice President of Hyundai Motor’s N Management Office, described the Hyundai N Virtual Cup as a way to provide customers with easier access to motorsports and to spread high‑performance automotive culture in Korea. He expressed the hope that more customers would experience the N brand through gaming.

The 2026 cup follows Hyundai’s first global N Virtual Cup in 2024, which used the Assetto Corsa simulator and attracted more than 2,800 participants from Korea, the United States, Europe and China. Hyundai has also held internal esports activities, including last year’s Autoever Rock Festival, aimed at employee engagement.