BMW Group and AirConsole host joint Developer Competition for In-Car Games.
- Phil DiIanni
- Competition taps into potential of global game developer community for in-car gaming of the future
- Submissions possible by June 8th, 2023
Munich/Zurich, Germany - March 10, 2023... The BMW Group and AirConsole are launching a competition to develop games tailored to the in-car experience. With this competition, the two companies are tapping into the potential of the global game developer community while developers are invited to pioneer the field of in-car gaming. The BMW Group and AirConsole will jointly promote the competition at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco (March 20-24, 2023).
Developers can submit their ideas and concepts as of today and until June 8th, 2023, via the official competition website. Among the submitted game concepts, the best four will be chosen as winners and will each receive 5,000 euros for the development of a prototype. If the prototype proves promising, AirConsole will fully fund the development of the game to then be included on the AirConsole platform. The winners are also invited to the BMW Group headquarters in Munich to see the result in action.
Stefan Butz, Vice President BMW Group Development for Entertainment and Apps: "This competition is a great opportunity for game developers to work with AirConsole to create engaging gaming experiences specifically for vehicles. We want to offer our customers a first-class entertainment experience and gaming is all about joy.”
Antti Makkonen, Director of Games at AirConsole, said, "As highlighted by the automotive industry at CES, gaming in the car is happening. Game makers need to start creating games for the car use-case, not just bring games to the car. Using phones as controllers inside the car makes playing accessible and fun for everyone, especially when considering that not everybody will own a game controller, or that playing directly on the car touch screen makes your arm tire quite fast.”
The BMW Group chose nDream - the company behind the AirConsole brand - as a partner to bring casual gaming into the car through the BMW Startup Garage programme.
BMW Group in the United States.
BMW of North America, LLC was established 50 years ago to support the sales, marketing and distribution of BMW automobiles in the U.S. BMW Motorrad was brought into the fold in 1980. In 1993 BMW Group Financial Services NA, LLC was founded, and one year later BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC began assembling vehicles in South Carolina. In 2002 and 2003, BMW Group established MINI USA, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC relaunching two iconic brands and rounding out its product portfolio.
Today, the BMW Group has a nationwide corporate footprint in the U.S. which consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states. Beyond the National Sales Company and Financial Services headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and numerous other operational facilities, BMW Group in the U.S. also includes Designworks, a strategic design consultancy in Santa Monica, CA, BMW Group Technology Office USA, a technology research and development center in Silicon Valley, and BMW i Ventures, a venture capital fund, also in Silicon Valley.
BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW production facility in the world, and the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM. The plant assembles more than 1,500 vehicles each day, and up to 450,000 annually. Since 1994, Plant Spartanburg has assembled nearly 7 million BMW vehicles in the U.S.
The BMW Group sales organization in the U.S. is represented through a network of 350 BMW retailers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. The company’s activities provide and support over 120,000 jobs across the U.S. and contribute more than 43.3 billion to the U.S. economy annually.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com
Developers can submit their ideas and concepts as of today and until June 8th, 2023, via the official competition website. Among the submitted game concepts, the best four will be chosen as winners and will each receive 5,000 euros for the development of a prototype. If the prototype proves promising, AirConsole will fully fund the development of the game to then be included on the AirConsole platform. The winners are also invited to the BMW Group headquarters in Munich to see the result in action.
Stefan Butz, Vice President BMW Group Development for Entertainment and Apps: "This competition is a great opportunity for game developers to work with AirConsole to create engaging gaming experiences specifically for vehicles. We want to offer our customers a first-class entertainment experience and gaming is all about joy.”
Antti Makkonen, Director of Games at AirConsole, said, "As highlighted by the automotive industry at CES, gaming in the car is happening. Game makers need to start creating games for the car use-case, not just bring games to the car. Using phones as controllers inside the car makes playing accessible and fun for everyone, especially when considering that not everybody will own a game controller, or that playing directly on the car touch screen makes your arm tire quite fast.”
The BMW Group chose nDream - the company behind the AirConsole brand - as a partner to bring casual gaming into the car through the BMW Startup Garage programme.
BMW Group in the United States.
BMW of North America, LLC was established 50 years ago to support the sales, marketing and distribution of BMW automobiles in the U.S. BMW Motorrad was brought into the fold in 1980. In 1993 BMW Group Financial Services NA, LLC was founded, and one year later BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC began assembling vehicles in South Carolina. In 2002 and 2003, BMW Group established MINI USA, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC relaunching two iconic brands and rounding out its product portfolio.
Today, the BMW Group has a nationwide corporate footprint in the U.S. which consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states. Beyond the National Sales Company and Financial Services headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and numerous other operational facilities, BMW Group in the U.S. also includes Designworks, a strategic design consultancy in Santa Monica, CA, BMW Group Technology Office USA, a technology research and development center in Silicon Valley, and BMW i Ventures, a venture capital fund, also in Silicon Valley.
BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW production facility in the world, and the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM. The plant assembles more than 1,500 vehicles each day, and up to 450,000 annually. Since 1994, Plant Spartanburg has assembled nearly 7 million BMW vehicles in the U.S.
The BMW Group sales organization in the U.S. is represented through a network of 350 BMW retailers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. The company’s activities provide and support over 120,000 jobs across the U.S. and contribute more than 43.3 billion to the U.S. economy annually.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com