Cory Gunther
Tesla’s Model S already comes with a capable gaming experience for the in-dash display, but now the company is working on bringing Valve’s Steam games store to its electric vehicles. Rather than individual titles, Elon Musk wants owners to get the whole Steam experience.
Update, 7/18/22: Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently posted to Twitter updating the world on the status of Steam games in vehicles. According to Musk, “we’re making progress on Steam integration. Demo probably next month.” If true, we could see the Steam game library in Tesla EVs as soon as August 2022.
The automaker is still busy building its own video game service known as Tesla Arcade, but adding the Steam library would certainly bolster its offerings. That way, the company wouldn’t have to work with game developers to port titles over. Currently, Tesla has a slew of software engineers working on video games for its cars at two different facilities.
We’re working through the general case of making Steam games work on a Tesla vs specific titles. Former is obviously where we should be long-term.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2022
While getting questioned about new models of its vehicles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed its plans to bring Steam to Tesla EVs. And when you consider the latest Model S has PS5-level graphics built-in, new vehicles certainly have enough power to run most games offered by Steam.
It’s worth noting that Tesla’s infotainment system uses Linux, so running SteamOS doesn’t seem that far-fetched. Plus, who knows, maybe it’ll eventually work with Steam Deck. Of course, it’s too early to know what to expect or speculate on when (or if) Steam will ever actually boot up inside a Tesla, but it’s certainly an exciting concept.
In the short term, offering Steam games to owners is beneficial for the added value and entertainment. However, there’s a bigger picture at play here. For one, Elon Musk has recently stated that “entertainment will be critical when cars drive themselves,” not to mention being able to play a quick game while sitting at a charging station definitely has some allure.
Plus, video games are exciting and fun, and who wouldn’t want the option in their autonomous vehicle of the future. In 2019, Elon Musk said video games are one of, if not the biggest reason, he got into tech. It’s a passion he wants to share with others.
via Twitter
