BMW Group and AirConsole are launching a competition to create games for in-car use. The competition provides an opportunity for developers to pioneer the field of in-car gaming. At the same time, the contest allows the two companies to tap into the potential of the global game developer community. Both BMW Group and AirConsole are promoting the competition together at the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, which takes place from March 20-24, 2023.
Interested developers can submit their game concepts via the official competition website until June 8th, 2023. The top four concepts will each receive 5,000 euros for the development of a prototype. If the prototype shows promise, AirConsole will fund the full development of the game to be included on the AirConsole platform. The winning developers will also be invited to see the result in action at BMW Group headquarters in Munich.
Stefan Butz, Vice President BMW Group Development for Entertainment and Apps, believes this competition is an excellent opportunity for developers to work with AirConsole to create engaging gaming experiences designed specifically for vehicles. He feels that the entertainment experience offered by gaming is all about joy and aims to provide a first-class experience for BMW customers.
According to Antti Makkonen, Director of Games at AirConsole, gaming in the car is happening as evidenced by the automotive industry at CES. However, game makers must create games specifically designed for in-car use cases rather than simply porting games to cars. Using phones as controllers inside the car makes the gaming experience accessible and fun for everyone, especially considering not everyone owns a game controller, and playing directly on the car touch screen tires one’s arm quickly.
BMW Group selected nDream, the company behind AirConsole, as its partner to bring casual gaming to cars through the BMW Startup Garage program.
