Steam On Tesla Gaming Demo May Happen In The Near Future
Modern cars, whether they're powered by gasoline or electricity, are incredibly advanced. Many of them have computers that could rival smartphones, especially when it comes to AI-related processing and graphics. Although primarily used for functions like automatic environment control, driver assistance, and navigation, some of these in-vehicle computers are actually powerful enough to play games. Whether you should, of course, is a different matter entirely, but the capabilities of modern cars are definitely worth getting excited about. Elon Musk definitely sounds enthusiastic about this new opportunity for Tesla cars and reveals that a demo of his promised Steam integration might actually be on its way as early as next month.
Tesla EVs already carry some built-in games that you can play directly on the car's dash. Tesla Arcade has been around for more than a year now and offers ports of some popular but simpler games like "Cuphead" and "Sonic the Hedgehog." In reality, however, the head unit for the Tesla S and X is equipped with more powerful silicon, specifically an AMD Ryzen CPU and RDNA2 GPU, and it could actually be used to play "Cyberpunk 2077."
Elon Musk/Twitter
Earlier this year, Musk teased that the cars could soon boast integration with Steam, one of the biggest PC gaming platforms available. The idea definitely isn't far-fetched, and it seems that we are finally close to seeing that happen. In his latest tweet, the Tesla CEO mentioned that a demo of this Steam integration could be available as early as August 2022, suggesting that the work is all but done.
Some critics worry about safety
Steam integration with the Tesla S and Tesla X models could be a game-changer, pun intended. It would showcase not only the raw power of the cars' computers but also Tesla's clout in the automotive and entertainment industries. If it becomes an exclusive feature even for just a few years, it would be a significant differentiating factor that would put Tesla further ahead of other EVs.
But just because you can do something doesn't always mean you should, and there have already been concerns and misgivings about using the EVs to play games. There are safety concerns, of course, even if it's not the driver playing games. The opportunities for distraction are too high, and regulatory agencies are still unsure how to proceed. Tesla will naturally put safeguards in place to ensure the safety of passengers and drivers, but people have been known to misuse and abuse those features regardless of the dangers.
There might also be stability issues, given how games are not always the most reliable pieces of software in the computing industry. There might be worries that a crashing game could have adverse effects on the entire operating system, which could, in turn, cause accidents. That said, playing games in self-driving, driverless cars is one of the scenarios painted by futurists and visionaries. As always, Tesla and Musk are the ones bold enough to take the first step forward, even if it does end up ruffling many people's feathers.