Kawasaki Corleo RMV Goes Virtual FirstTeam Green doesn't just picture Corleo as a rideable machine in the real world; it's also a riding simulator with a future in esports, apparently.You've heard of UTVs, you've heard of ATVs, but have you heard of RMVs? According to Kawasaki, that's an acronym for "Robotic Multi-Legged Vehicle," and it's currently the category under which Team Green is internally filing its Corleo project.Don't call it a robot horse; it's so much more than that. To further bring this framing home, Kawasaki Heavy Industries brought a full-scale mockup of Corleo to gamescom 2026 in Germany, a mega international video gaming event.To be clear, this was only a mockup of Corleo. It wasn't a full-on riding simulator just yet, although that's definitely one of Kawasaki's near-term future plans for Project Corleo. If Honda thought it was on to something by crafting a rideable Pokemon motorcycle that it demonstrated at the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, then Kawasaki is here to push that not-quite-a-motorcycle, not-quite-an-animal situation even further forward.Kawasaki Corleo RMV Goes Virtual FirstTo quote Kawasaki's own promotional materials,A riding simulator, developed in the course of CORLEO's development, creates an unprecedented riding experience.The system is intended to not only support the development of the actual machine, but also to bring innovation to the field of entertainment.With a new riding sensation unlike anything offered by motorcycles or animals, your world will continue to expand.Team Green also envisions a future that brings Corleo into the world of console video gaming, and it's there that I realized I'd missed something crucial, which I should've seen a lot sooner than I did.AdvertisementAdvertisementIf you've ever experienced the Horizon universe (brought to the world by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony), maybe you put it together more quickly than I did. Corleo isn't quite a Strider, but he'd fit right in, and apparently someone at Kawasaki is very aware of this.Kawasaki Corleo RMV Goes Virtual FirstLike No One Else, TrulyWe Just Found Kawasaki's Robot Horse Patent Drawings. They're Full Of Insane DetailsFirst Drive: The 2027 Kawasaki Teryx H2 Is A Supercharged, Mud-Flinging DelightRight now, Kawasaki has an entire website dedicated to preparing the world to accept Corleo into our hearts. It's called Safe Adventure, and while I'm dubious that such a thing can truly exist in the world (it truly seems like a contradiction in terms), you can find out a lot more about Kawasaki's future plans for Corleo development if you visit.There are segments about riding Corleo in the real world, over a variety of terrain. There are also segments about remotely operating Corleo via a simulator, and the possibility of developing a palm-sized Corleo, with a helpfully generated image of a little kid seemingly operating a mini Corleo, much like all those robot toys you buy your kids for Christmas that they promptly forget about two weeks later.Kawasaki Corleo RMV Goes Virtual FirstAnd then, there's the mecha esports angle. "Safe Adventure expands the realm of adventure by integrating the real and virtual worlds, and it introduces a new form of entertainment to the world of esports: mecha esports. The unprecedented handling of multi-legged machines like CORLEO will bring the excitement of competitions and races to a new level," one slide reads.AdvertisementAdvertisementThere's also a potential to operate Corleo via a console game controller. On this slide, Team Green even got a little clever with the text, as it reads, "CORLEO, an unparalleled form of mobility, is also coming to console games. Operating it with a controller at home---not just in real or virtual spaces---is another way to enjoy the new horizons that Safe Adventure offers." Gives a whole new meaning to "animal crossing," doesn't it? And now I want a deeply disquieting Animal Crossing x Horizon crossover, please and thank you. Made by actual people, if you please. I digress.Along with Corleo, elsewhere on the Safe Adventure site, Kawasaki talks about deployment of a system of Mountain Huts, which will be 24/7 unmanned spaces with amenities including social robots, hydrogen power generation with canisters that will directly fit CORLEO (remember, this RMV is hydrogen-powered).As a bonus, maybe if you're visiting a Kawasaki Mountain Hut at just the right time, you could perhaps encounter K-RACER, which is what Kawasaki is calling its Ninja H2-powered unmanned helicopter. AdvertisementAdvertisementIf you want to follow the developments of Kawasaki's Corleo project as they happen, just like your auntie's cute but loud Shih Tzu, Corleo apparently has its own dedicated Instagram page now. Currently, Kawasaki says it plans to have a functioning Corleo simulator completed sometime in 2027, as well as making it available as an on-site mobility vehicle at Expo 2030 in Saudi Arabia. Should developments proceed according to plan, Team Green says it wants to make Corleo available commercially sometime in 2035. For anyone who views the Horizon series as a documentary from the future, and who thinks that Sarah Connor was right, you may just want to get your crossbows ready and your training up to date.But for anyone who just wants to do some mecha esports (only apparently riding on the robot instead of in the robot), you might just be a little more excited. What do you think? Feel free to share in the comments, and doubly so if your name is Shinji.