What just happened? The long-awaited integration of Steam inside Tesla Model S and Model X electric vehicles has started rolling out. The promo video announcing the feature's arrival boasts the ability to play "thousands" of Steam games on the EVs' 10 TFLOP infotainment system, including the demanding Cyberpunk 2077.
It was back in February when CEO Elon Musk promised the ability to play Steam games in some Tesla vehicles. That's finally arrived as part of the holiday update. It's noted that games verified to run on the Steam Deck will work in Model S & X (year 2022+) vehicles with 16GB of memory and Premium Connectivity.
You can play Cyberpunk, Elden Ring and 1000s of other games in your *car* with an epic sound system!! https://t.co/F25Qu6HJ63
--- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2022
Tesla previously said its RDNA 2-powered (NAVI 23) infotainment system could compete with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It's already able to play games such as Cuphead, PUBG Mobile, and Fallout Shelter, and now thousands more are being added. Check out the GPU block diagram below from chip leaker Patrick Schur.
Tesla added that Steam cloud synchronization is also supported in the vehicles, so you can save your game at home and continue it later in your Model S or X, but only when parked up. The NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) launched a preliminary investigation in 2021 focusing on Tesla's Passenger Play feature that allowed people to play in-dash games while the car was in motion. One day after the investigation began, Tesla said it would disable the feature.
The holiday update also brings Apple Music integration to Teslas, allowing subscribers to listen to their entire library, discover more music, and tune into live radio stations. There's also the ability to make Zoom calls using the interior cabin camera.
Elsewhere, the current Dog Mode, which lets you set the climate control to keep a pet who's been left alone happy, now allows users to view the interior camera via the mobile app so they can make sure their beloved animals are okay. The same functionality has also been brought to Sentry Mode.