Touchscreens in cars are at the center of controversy. On the one hand, the screens will be more controlled by Euro NCAP because of the potential danger they represent for road safety; but on the other hand, more and more drivers are discovering its possibilities thanks to systems like Android Auto.
Mercedes-Benz’s recent announcement may spark another debate: whether video games should be allowed on a car’s touchscreen. The automaker attended Gamescom, the video game trade show in Cologne, Germany, to announce a major deal with gaming platform Boosteroid.
Thanks to this alliance, Mercedes-Benz vehicle drivers will have access to over 1,000 video games directly via the dashboard touchscreen. It will be possible to connect a wireless controller to the screen and control the games in the same way as you would on a video game console; It will also be possible to control the games by connecting the mobile phone and using touch controls.
This is all possible because the touchscreen doesn’t run games natively. Boosteroid technology is cloud-based; The games run on the company’s servers, and the screen only needs to connect to the Internet and get the image to play it and send the commands that we make with the controller.
With a good 5G or WiFi connection, it is possible to play with an experience very similar to that of a console. Readers of EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre will probably recognize this technology; after all, it is the same concept on which very popular services such as Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce Now are based.
Rocket League running on the screen of a Mercedes-Benz
Free Android
Like the latter, Boosteroid connects to our accounts on platforms like Steam or Epic to access our games and be able to run them. So first we have to buy the games we want to play, in addition to paying the Boosteroid fee, which has a starting price of 7.49 dollars per month (with an annual subscription). In addition to Mercedes-Benz cars, Boosteroid is available for Android phones, iOS, Android TV, LG and Samsung TVs, so we can continue the game wherever we want.
More than 1,000 games are compatible with this platform, including very successful multiplayer games like Fortnite, PUBG Battlegrounds, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and single player games like Ring of Fire, Grand Theft Auto V, Cyberpunk 2077 And Baldur’s Gate 3.
An important detail is that the Booteroid application It can only be performed with the car stationary. The system will detect if we have parked before opening the application. Boosteroid will be available to drivers who have purchased the MBUX Entertainment Plus package and own a car equipped with the third generation of the MBUX system; The application will be available in the App Store accessible from the screen from 2025, in Europe, North America and South America.
