Warner Bros.is experimenting with an inter-vehicle gaming solution which would allow passengers from multiple cars to play video games with one another. According to a newly granted patent filing,Warner Bros.has been researching such a system for at least the last couple of years.
From the invention of the dashboard radio to complex software frameworks such as Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and Eve for Tesla, in-car entertainment has been a thing for over a century. This market segment has so far largely evaded non-casual gaming, primarily due to the technical challenges involved with powering such high-end entertainment on the road. However, with the advent of 5G, chip advancements, and general Internet of Things innovation, many traditional automakers are now actively exploring the idea ofintroducing in-car video games. As it turns out, they’re not the only ones.
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Warner Bros. applied for its newly granted patent two years ago. The filing primarily deals with a matchmaking system that would take vehicle destination, travel time, and other factors into account while looking for players to connect. Ultimately, the mechanism is meant to deliver seamless gaming experiences between passengers from two or more vehicles.
This development is yet another indication thatWarner Bros. is working on in-car gaming devices. Earlier this year, the company applied for another patent describing a full-fledged gaming console embedded into a car seat, stating that the solution is intended for use in autonomous vehicles.
Warner Bros. isn’t the only party looking to extend in-car entertainment to video games. Just last month, BMW teamed up with AirConsole on a multi-year project intended to bring a variety of gaming experience to its luxury vehicle fleet, starting with the BMW 7 Series in 2023. The experimental solution will allow passengers to play games using one of the supported vehicles' displays while using their smartphones and tablets as wireless controllers. Granted, the fact thatBMW is also introducing microtransactions to vehiclesaround that same timeframe suggests it isn’t necessarily in tune with what the customers want, so it remains to be seen whether it manages to establish itself as a driving force of innovation in the in-car gaming sphere.
Should Warner Bros. commercialize its inter-vehicle gaming system, it is also likely to face competition from the world’s most valuable electric vehicle brand. Namely,Elon Musk Wants to Bring Steam to Teslavehicles and is on record as saying as much as of earlier this year. Volkswagen is another major automaker that already went public about wanting to bring video games to modern vehicle fleets, and more companies are likely to follow in the near future.
