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Bethesda shows off Tesla touchscreen dev kit

Having worked on and launched Fallout Shelter on Tesla touchscreens, Bethesda showed off a glimpse of the dev kit for game design and integration into a Tesla vehicle's ecosystem.

TJ Denzer

July 29, 2020 8:41 AM

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It’s been a while since Tesla added the ability to play video games in its vehicles. Titles like Missile Command, Cuphead, and Fallout Shelter have been available to play in Teslas for a while. That said, Bethesda recently shared a small glimpse of what the dev kit for porting a game over to the Tesla looks like, including an apparent simulation of the driving and at rest periods for the would-be vehicle.

Bethesda shared this cheeky look inside development of games for the Tesla from the Bethesda Game Studios Twitter on July 28, 2020. Reportedly the dev kit used as Bethesda was developing the popular building and resource management game Fallout Shelter for play in Tesla vehicles, the kit included what appears to be a suite created to simulate operation of Tesla vehicles in tandem to the game design. The Tesla has integrated safeguards in place to ensure users aren’t trying to play games while driving, so it would appear that the actual navigation system for the Tesla is also simulated for the game development to work around as a boundary.

Here's a look of the dev kit @Tesla sent us to test #FalloutShelter. The DO NOT DRIVE is an especially nice touch. 😉 pic.twitter.com/2ZIT7ssBzn

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) July 28, 2020

Fallout Shelter was one of the more interesting titles to be announced for play in Tesla’s video game-capable services in 2019, coming in alongside Cuphead to be playable on the Tesla Model S, X, and 3 touchscreens. That said, this may be one of our first looks at what it’s like to work on game design with the cutting-edge vehicle. It does make sense, as one would want to consider all of the distractions, precautions, and other factors that come with operating a game in a car. The car can’t factor in everything, such as drivers trying to play games on their own devices as it drives in Autopilot Mode. That said, the dev kit appears to compensate for everything within direct control of the Tesla itself.

Having launched in a May 20 software update for Telsa vehicle touchscreens, Fallout Shelter is currently available to play in the company’s various vehicles now.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.