Volkswagen To Add Virtual Gaming Console To Select Vehicles’ Infotainment Systems
Source: Extreme Tech, Adrianna Nine
Photo: N-Dream/VW
The automaker’s partnership with AirConsole will bring roughly 130 multiplayer games to the new Golf, Passat, ID series, and more.
Volkswagen is working with a Swiss gaming company to bring new entertainment options to some of its vehicles’ “infotainment” systems. Beginning later this year, owners of select Volkswagen models will be able to play roughly 130 local multiplayer games using just their smartphones and their vehicles’ center displays.
Volkswagen’s partnership is with N-Dream, which makes the virtual gaming console AirConsole. Using a smartphone and a PC, Android TV, Google TV, or Amazon Fire TV, anyone can play AirConsole’s “starter pack,” which includes a handful of games for up to two players. Subscribing to AirConsole Hero for $8 per month unlocks the entire platform, which includes console and mobile titles such as Overcooked!, Tumblestone, Knife Jump, and Clusterpuck 99. Depending on the title, up to eight players can join a single gaming session using their own smartphones and a PIN or QR code.
N-Dream previously joined forces with BMW to bring AirConsole to certain BMW and Mini vehicles models 2023 and later. In a release published Monday, N-Dream announced that it was expanding its in-vehicle gaming offerings by bringing AirConsole to the 2025 Passat, Tiguan, Golf, and Golf Estate. Volkswagen’s ID series (which includes the ID.3, ID.4, ID.5, and ID.7 electric vehicles) will also integrate AirConsole with the ID software version 4.0 rolling out later this year.
Before N-Dream partnered with Volkswagen, it worked with BMW to bring its games to select BMW and Mini vehicles.
According to the release, AirConsole will only be available to play when a vehicle is parked. This makes the virtual console a suitable entertainment option for road trip breaks and EV charging sessions—the ideal combination for Volkswagen’s ID.Buzz microbus—but not for impatient kids during long drives.
Some might be surprised to hear about Volkswagen embracing in-car gaming after the brand signaled a pivot away from touch screens last year. But Volkswagen’s design boss indicated that only “important” functions would receive physical switches and dials, which drivers reportedly desire for their ease of use while, you know, actually driving. The ID.2, an electric hatchback slated for 2026, is expected to walk this line: While it features a 13-inch center touch screen, defrosters, climate control, volume, and other essentials are controlled via tactile knobs.