Volkswagen is the latest automaker to announce a partnership with mobile gaming platform AirConsole, which will allow drivers and passengers to stream a selection of gaming titles while stationary.
The update will initially be rolled out in the VW ID.7 Pro S and VW ID.7 Touring Pro S models. Other fully electric ID products with ID. Software 4.0 will also receive an update in the coming months. The platform uses the smartphone as a controller, allowing up to four players to enjoy a selection of arcade games.
The BMW Group entered into a partnership with AirConsole in 2022 and has since begun introducing app support in a number of BMW and Mini models, including the all-new electric Mini we recently tested.
While AirConsole is already available on web browsers, Android TV, Google TV and Amazon Fire TV, it has only recently become available in vehicles, with battery-powered electric cars being the first obvious targets.
The long downtime EV owners face while waiting for batteries to fill up provides the perfect opportunity to get gaming, with AirConsole offering opportunities such as crazy co-op Overcookedtrivia quiz Who wants to be a millionaire? and a handful of racing titles and puzzle games to pass the time.
Volkswagen says it plans to expand its AirConsole app to combustion engine cars as well, with the new Passat, new Tiguan, new Golf and new Golf Estate – all of which will run the latest infotainment software – offering in-car gaming by 2025.
Mercedes brings out the big guns
It looks like the infotainment screen in cars will be the next battleground for gamers’ attention. Mercedes-Benz announced at this year’s Gamescom that it has partnered with the developers of the Boosteroid app to stream AAA games in its vehicles.
The latest MBUX Hyperscreen multimedia system consists of three huge digital displays in some models. This allows the driver and front passenger to compete against each other on separate screens in games from Steam and Epic Games, for example.
Using a Bluetooth controller or a smartphone, gamers in Europe and North America will be able to stream more than 1,000 titles early next year and even participate in them via the Boosteroid app.
Tesla, on the other hand, is moving away from offering AAA gaming in its vehicles, ending support for Steam games on the Model S and Model X this year. The company neither denies nor confirms whether it will continue to do so for the Model Y or Model 3.
There have been suggestions that Tesla may have pulled the support due to the various ongoing cases surrounding distracted drivers and its fully self-driving technology, despite the system only being active when a vehicle is stationary. Alternatively, it could simply be a cost-saving measure ordered by boss Elon Musk.
During an earnings call earlier this year, Musk said even suggested the idea to instead use the computers in parked vehicles to perform inference, data processing and other tasks that make money for the vehicle owner and manufacturer.