Manchester City have staged their first-ever kit launch in the Metaverse with the grand unveiling of their new third alternate jersey for the 2022-23 Premier League season on gaming platform Roblox.
Following up on the eye-catching red-and-black diagonal stripes of their away shirt, the reigning English champions' third kit is a lurid neon yellow colour with blurred dark bands running across the torso.
The colours are officially being described as Fizzy Light and Parisian Night by manufacturers Puma, who also say that the striped design is inspired by the Manchester worker bee, the famous symbol of the city's industrial past.
The spray-paint effect used to create the bands is also intended as a nod to the street art found on walls around the city, and to the graffiti artists who create them.
City stars including Laura Coombs, Kalvin Phillips and Ruben Dias modelled the jersey, very much in the real world.
The club broke new ground by revealing their new hi-vis strip on Roblox -- which, for the uninitiated, is an online gaming platform that allows players to build and share their own games.
The special Metaverse event saw the Roblox lobby reskinned in City colours in order to vaguely resemble the Etihad Stadium and gave players the chance to explore and interact with both the new third and home kits.
The 2022/23 #ManCity x @pumafootball third kit is available now on @Roblox 🤖 pic.twitter.com/UQbbAtjE9w
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 3, 2022
In addition to the fancy cyber kit launch, City-supporting gamers also have the chance to compete and win prizes as part of a Football Rush event created by Puma, including digital versions of the new kits in the form of custom Roblox skins.
Puma will also be hosting a Football Rush tournament on YouTube that will see two teams of five Roblox players square off to win their share of $10,000 in prize money, which can be used in Roblox.
Apologies to anybody who was born in the 20th or early 21st century and therefore didn't understand a single word of that.