The ability to play complex video games quickly came under fire from safety experts who raised concerns over distraction
Elon Musk is pretty big on making promises he can’t keep. If it’s not cars that can actually drive themselves or affordable electric vehicles, then it’s canceled features and backtracked launch dates. Now, the Tesla $TSLA boss has been forced to admit defeat once again as no new Tesla’s will ship with support for Steam games on their infotainment systems.
Bringing Steam support to Tesla was a big thing for Musk a few years ago, with the company boss lauding the capability when it finally rolled out on Model X $TWTR and S models back in 2022. However, the ability to play complex video games quickly came under fire from safety experts who argued there was little to stop video games from distracting drivers.
Now, it appears that new Tesla models will no longer ship with support for Steam games built in, according to a report from the Verge. As the site explains:
Tesla might be dropping Steam support on some new deliveries of Model X, according to a message from the company shared by a Reddit $RDDT user who is expecting to take delivery of the long-range version of the electric SUV.
Tesla’s message alerts the customer that the company is “updating the gaming computer” in the Model X and says it’s “no longer capable of playing Steam games.” The message ends with a button for the customer to confirm they will proceed with the delivery.
The cut in features has also hit Tesla Model S cars, reports CarScoops, which suggested that the drop has come after “not many people were using it.” Despite the lack of uptake in the feature, which is now only available to use when the car is in park, Tesla won’t be removing the feature from cars already outfitted with the capability.
In a memo shared with Model X owners, Tesla confirmed that the Steam support was the only feature that would be dropping from its infotainment system. In the memo, it confirmed that “all other entertainment and app functionalities are unaffected.”
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