BMW Mission iFACTORY mobile game goes live
Step into the virtual Plant Lydia, explore state-of-the-art car manufacturing

(Beijing) To coincide with the official opening of Plant Lydia in Shenyang, BMW Mission iFACTORY, the plant’s game version, also went live with a demo release on June 22nd. Believe it or not, BMW has just released a mobile game.

The game features an open world exploration powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine, a realistic simulation of the entire plant, and a cloud gaming experience that requires neither download nor installation – an unprecedented experience of BMW's Industrial Metaverse and future-oriented BMW iFACTORY strategy at fingertips.

This is the first time BMW presents its state-of-the-art car manufacturing as a 3D game, which uses an innovative, immersive digital experience to tell the story of how a BMW car is born at Plant Lydia.

BMW users and fans can access the game via My BMW App and experience the entire production process. For others, it is a one-of-a-kind platform to learn about modern car manufacturing. The game is characterised by grand scenes, realistic environments, rich contents, a high degree of freedom and high playability.

BMW Mission iFACTORY is not just a simulation of one building or one production process. In fact, its grand map covers almost every corner of the three-million-m2 Plant Lydia.

For example, in the Communication Center, gamers can see the office environment. In the Press Shop, gamers can learn how a piece of steel plate is turned into body sheet metal parts and feel the stunning pressing of metals. In the Paint Shop, gamers can choose the colour of a car according to their preference. In the Assembly Shop, users can observe the assembly of car parts. The all-new BMW i3 is the protagonist in all those scenes, as its production has just started in Plant Lydia.

In about 30 minutes of gameplay of the demo, gamers can participate in a total of nine interactive missions in different workshops, covering all the important processes of car manufacturing. With future upgrades, BMW Mission iFACTORY may incorporate more customer experience elements such as ordering accessories or other products in the virtual world.

In addition, BMW Mission iFACTORY gives gamers a high level of freedom. Marathon gamers or those who like to explore can choose the Free Mode. They can wander around the beautiful artificial lake of the plant, count trucks by the internal roads or race with the AGVs in the logistics area. More casual players can choose the Guide Mode and follow virtual guide "Logan" step-by-step through the entire production process.

The game’s details and design are also pushed to the highest extent. Like mainstream games such as PUBG: Battleground, Fortnite and Borderlands 3, BMW Mission iFACTORY is also powered by Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4, rendered with excellent lighting and physics. Some scenes are so realistic that it’s hard to tell from the real world.

Players can choose from six pre-set avatars as their character in the game. Although face customisation is not available for the moment, the familiar gameplay can quickly help gamers blend in.

For better accessibility, BMW Mission iFACTORY adopts the convenient cloud gaming format. Players do not need to download the game. Instead, they can directly start playing by scanning a QR code or via the My BMW App. Therefore, all you need is a smartphone and a 4G network to step into virtual Plant Lydia at any time.

BMW Mission iFACTORY was developed proprietarily by the IT engineers of BMW Brilliance. These automotive-professional-turned game architects meticulously designed all the game scenes and missions. Some of them even volunteered to serve as NPC face models, showing the funny and creative side of BMW engineers.

The creation of BMW Mission iFACTORY is not surprising. Following the “Lean, Green, Digital” standard of BMW’s iFACTORY strategy, Plant Lydia was designed and simulated in a virtual environment from the very beginning. Every aspect of the plant – from planning, architectural design, production line layout to equipment commissioning – has a twin in the virtual world. Therefore, it’s just one extra step to present this virtual plant to the public and let more people know about automobile production and BMW's advanced manufacturing.

Virtual planning has greatly improved the speed, accuracy and efficiency of plant construction. Through virtual planning, certain physical planning was reduced or eliminated. In addition, 5G and other technologies make global remote collaboration and equipment commissioning possible. Travel restrictions due to the pandemic were overcome effectively. Eventually, the time from ground-breaking to the completion of Plant Lydia was shortened by six months.

Bringing the Industrial Metaverse into reality, Plant Lydia is BMW's first true digital vehicle plant. It is the latest showcase of BMW iFACTORY that is set to strengthen the proven success factors of BMW’s global production network by setting new standards in flexibility, efficiency, sustainability and digitalisation.