A university student has played a key role in developing a virtual recreation of Birmingham that has captivated millions of players worldwide.
Roblox, a popular free-to-play online platform, allows users to design and explore their own game worlds. Titles like South London Remastered, Pet Simulator X, and Jailbreak showcase its diverse offerings.
Among these is Birmingham Vehicle Simulator, a game where players drive through an intricately crafted version of Birmingham’s city centre while taking on various jobs—ranging from police officer to taxi driver. The virtual map includes detailed landmarks such as New Street Station and Snow Hill.
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Since its release in mid-2024, Birmingham Vehicle Simulator has been played over 26 million times and saved as a favorite by 76,000 users.
Luca Dan, an 18-year-old student from Aston University, began co-developing the game in 2023, nearly a year before its launch. Serving as the technical director, Luca focused on ensuring copyright compliance and maintaining the world’s quality.
Reflecting on the development process, Luca shared with BirminghamLive, “We started by building the city centre and expanded from there, especially after adding vehicles. The city centre is iconic; no one has created a city centre like this before.”
He highlighted Snow Hill for its striking architecture but admitted New Street Station posed significant challenges: “Building New Street Station was the hardest and a really annoying process because of its complex shape.”
While the game currently centers on Birmingham’s core areas, plans are underway to extend the map to include parts of north Birmingham.
Though the majority of players are in the UK, the game has also gained unexpected popularity in South America. “At one point, Brazil was the number one country playing the game,” Luca noted, expressing surprise and pride at its global reach.
Luca also acknowledged the crucial contributions of his teammates: graphic designer Jessi S, road designer Gavin O, and vehicle modeller Deriko R.