Elon Musk says Tesla is working on getting Steam’s library of video games to run on its onboard computer. It is reported that Tesla has been trying to expand its influence in the video game field. Tesla has a team of software engineers working on video games in Seattle, and they recently started building a similar team in Austin.
The automaker has been building a video game platform called Tesla Arcade in its vehicles, and it has been working with video game studios to port games to the platform.
Right now, it’s mostly about creating some added value for its user experience, but Tesla may have bigger plans for its in-vehicle gaming. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been saying recently that he believes that “entertainment will be critical when the car drives itself.” He thinks Tesla can make that happen later this year.
In preparation for that, the automaker has been releasing more video games in its Tesla Arcade, and it says it could turn it into a business. There have actually been indications that Tesla plans to offer paid packages of different video games in its vehicles, which will start to enter the same business segment as Valve’s Steam, Playstation Store or Xbox Live store.
Today, Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla is working on making Steam’s library of games run directly on Tesla’s software, rather than porting specific games. On Twitter, Musk reiterated his goal of getting Cyberpunk, a graphically demanding game, to run in the upcoming Cybertruck pickup.
Tesla recently deployed a new entertainment computer on the Model S and Model X aimed at video games.
New Tesla Gaming PC
With the unveiling of the new Model S and Model X, Tesla announced new gaming computers in the cars. Up to 10 teraflops of processing power make in-vehicle gaming comparable to today’s latest consoles via Tesla Arcade. Wireless controller compatibility allows gaming from any seat.
A well-known chip whistleblower, Patrick Schur, posted a schematic of Tesla’s new gaming computer powered by an AMD Navi 23 GPU. The system is integrated and connects directly to two touchscreens inside the Model S and Model X for gaming, entertainment and other functions.
Musk also revealed that the new computer has more storage space and can handle more games on the platform at the same time. The website videocardz compares its specs to the latest generation of consoles available – showing that based on existing specs, it does match up pretty well. Tesla is expected to use this new hardware to expand its in-car video game experience.
