New Tesla’s Will No Longer Play Steam Games

The Tesla gaming dream is dead for the time being, as Tesla has announced it’s pulling Steam gaming support for new Model S and Model X vehicles. For nearly two years now, owners of these vehicles have been able to access the catalog and play thousands of different games, with some heavy hitters like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 advertised in promotional pictures and videos.

No reason was given for yanking the functionality, with Electrek saying Tesla told new owners the company “is updating the gaming computer in your Model X and your vehicle is no longer capable of playing Steam games. All other entertainment and app functionalities are unaffected.” It’s believed that previous owners of these vehicles will still have access, although this hasn’t been confirmed.

Tesla And In Car Gaming

The company has been trying to make in-car gaming a thing for years now and the idea is a sound enough one. While waiting for your vehicle to charge or just waiting for an order to be ready, the idea of playing a few minutes of Elden Ring sounds like a pretty good one. The idea of in-car gaming making living with electric vehicles more fun is a solid one.

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Unfortunately, as this is Tesla, the company got a bit ahead of itself and allowed gaming while driving in the beginning, though that quickly changed once the government got involved. Today, you can only play games while in park, making it a safer activity if still a bit of a novelty more than anything.

Reasons For The Departure

It’s no secret Tesla has been having a bit of a rough year, seeing a dip in sales and revenue for the first time in years. This led to the company slimming down and letting go of about 20% of its workforce, with some high-profile firings along the way. During this period, entire software divisions were let go, and it’s possible Steam gaming integration was a casualty.

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A more obvious explanation could also be that owners were barely using it, so the company axed it. Model S and X sales are already low compared to the Model 3 and Y, so if most of those owners weren’t spending hours playing GTA 5 in their car it likely made very little sense for the company to keep the service going as it focuses on more lucrative ventures.

Source: Electrek