Originally announced in October 2022, the partnership between BMW and AirConsole lets owners of select models equipped with iDrive 8 kill time by playing casual games from inside the vehicle. This feature might seem frivolous, but it might come in handy when you’re at a charging station waiting to juice up your EV’s battery. It’s not just for BMWs as MINIs will also allow offer this type of entertainment.
An additional title will be added at some point in 2024 when a new game version of the popular “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” television game show will be launched. It’s currently being developed and is touted as being “all-new” and specifically created for in-car gaming. As with the already available games, you’ll be using a smartphone as a controller.
As to which models are currently compatible with AirConsole, BMW says the 7 Series and iX manufactured from March 2023, as well as the X5 / X5 M, X6 / X6 M, and X7, assembled starting with April 2023. In addition, all XM vehicles built from this month (August 2023) will support in-car gaming, with additional models to follow. BMW points out that the availability of the AirConsole app also depends on the country. You can have it by either getting the ConnectedDrive Professional package or the Personal eSIM option.
Before “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is added to the game library, BMW and AirConsole are showing off a special i5 this week in Germany at Gamescom in Cologne. The purely electric sedan has a gaming-themed body wrap with large pixels as a nod to the 8-bit era while the colors chosen reference some of the games you can play from inside the G60. Design cues of video game controllers have also been embedded into the car’s exterior finish.
Initially, the 5 Series G60 is offered with racing and sports games, plus simulation, strategy, jump-and-run, and puzzle games.
Source: BMW
