Volkswagen on Monday announced plans to make AirConsole’s video gaming platform available in its cars starting from September.
The automaker said the first recipients will be the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, and ID.7 electric vehicles, as well as the latest versions of the Golf, Passat, and Tiguan.
But the feature will only be available in a handful of European countries initially. Availability in the U.S. wasn’t mentioned in Monday’s announcement.
BMW is another automaker that offers AirConsole’s gaming platform in its cars, for example in the latest 5-Series.
The gaming platform lets occupants play games on a vehicle’s infotainment screen, including in multi-player format, using a connected smartphone as the controller. The system only works when the vehicle is stationary, making it an excellent option for EV owners, as it can keep the kids occupied during lengthy charging sessions.
AirConsole is an app developed by Swiss company N-Dream. According to its website, it has 137 games currently available, some of them developed exclusively for the platform. There’s a huge variety, including educational games that offer quizzes or word guessing games, as well as classics like Tetris, and some that look very similar to Nintendo’s Mario Kart. The games are free to play but there are also subscriptions that offer benefits, like allowing more players to contact, skipping add breaks, offering an expanded portfolio of titles, and more.
