Redbull planning ‘Top Gear for gamers’ TV show

‘Top Gear for gamers’ – that’s the pitch for a new video games based TV show in the planning stages at Redbull.

The show, the press release for which is is already drawing criticism for its somewhat antiquated dudebro approach to gaming, currently goes under the name ‘Players’.

It will be hosted by former Hollyoaks actors (and massive gaming obsessives”) Matt Litter and Darren Jeffries from the Red Bull ground floor coffee space” along with a small group of invited guests who represent our demographic (cool, non-geeky, opinionated and fun loving)”.

Players hopes to bring the best games coverage in the UK but without alienating non-game lovers” in the same way that Top Gear is enjoyed by those who aren’t necessarily interested in motoring.

It will be half an hour long with segments no longer that 2-3 minutes each”. There’s even a bespoke 16bit old skool game” that will be played by a different celebrity each week, with their score being placed onto a leaderboard. Think ‘Star In A reasonably Priced Car’ and you’re on the right lines.

It’s all to do with what is described as Redbull’s intention to expand beyond its traditional extreme sports and exploration content” that has seen it send out a brief to indies looking for youth-skewing factual entertainment content and formats”.

Recording for the pilot, which is described as non-transmittable with a minimal budget, is due to take place this Friday (June 27th).

UPDATE: Several sources have now told MCV that Litter and Jeffries have been pitching this show for years”, with one source having actually met with the pair on behalf of a client at a time when it was being pitched to Channel 4.