Blog Tesla Recruiting for Video Game Platform

A job descriptions posted on Tesla’s website suggests the company aims to build a team focused on video games.

The company is filling its Austin team with a Video Game and Infotainment engineer. The job description describes the role as an “incredibly rare opportunity to help build a video games platform.”

“You will be expected to contribute to many different areas to make projects happen, that may range from kernel level code changes, to in game behavior, to helping developers work with our platform,” the description says. “You will be responsible for the look and feel of the play experience, architecture, and whatever else is needed to create fun.”

The post says Tesla the project is “uncharted territory” and they aim to “set the bar for what video games in a car can be.”

Tesla’s infotainment is an industry leader, already offering video games and streaming video. The focus on entertainment makes sense, as Tesla owners have a bit of downtown during charger visits, and eventually when the company and regulators bring full self-driving to roadways.

 

[Captbarret]

Screw the video games. Concentrate on quality!

 

[SVMike]

First get the existing entertainment system to work well.
- new playback speeds options causing audio to skip backwards (repeating a couple of seconds) at random times
- need to be able to organize and sort favorites
- touch screen controls poorly laid out (small finger move on bumpy road causes wrong function to happen)
- font size needs to be adjustable

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Is this a joke? How about a motorcycle platform, a convertible, an SUV (verses that minivan X) an ATV, a new Model S, focus on getting CyberTruck to market, service improvements, warranty improvements, customer service improvements, CarPlay, Android Auto, Alexa, hot spot, leather, I have a list 50 items deep and you want to hire people to make freaking video games...really? Do they know who buys these cars, definitely people who don't have time to FFFF around playing video games, frat apps, etc... Maybe they lure in the video game guys and they do dev work on FSD.... that explains a lot...

 

[Tundrok]

Ugh. Musk really is an adult child in so many ways and this is further evidence of it. There is no reason to pursue this AT ALL. There is not a sizable enough audience to even turn a profit for game devs. There isn’t any need to keep adding features that can only be used while parked and full self driving is at least 5 years from actual reality where distractions such as gaming would be allowed. It’s crazy how much money is put into development that is simply wasted at Tesla. WTF??

 

[Uncle Paul]

In Asian Markets, the entertainment value of a electronics package is valued. Maybe that is where this additional gaming/video capability is aimed.

 

[Redbrick]

Yes!!! ....more games....we need more games for sure... Homeworld, ms. Pacman, Tetris, crysis - would be cool if we could adhoc local network while charging... ...but the lil' chip might not be able to handle all that.

 

[Knightshade]

Ugh. Musk really is an adult child in so many ways and this is further evidence of it. There is no reason to pursue this AT ALL. There is not a sizable enough audience to even turn a profit for game devs. There isn’t any need to keep adding features that can only be used while parked and full self driving is at least 5 years from actual reality where distractions such as gaming would be allowed. It’s crazy how much money is put into development that is simply wasted at Tesla. WTF??

Up to this point they've put roughly $0.00 into game development at Tesla.

All the games on the car were developed by someone else, at someone elses expense (decades ago in the case of many of them), then a guy who was already on the payroll doing basic UI/menu work added them to the menu system in about 5 minutes.


And they've gotten a ton of excellent and repeated press in exchange for this $0.00 investment.


Pretty solid business.

People keep acting like "adding asteroids to the menu" meant they couldn't hire an extra autopilot developer or something.

 

[Spacep0d]

I don't see this as zero sum, as Tesla will continue their other efforts vigorously.

Licensing games is straightforward enough and Tesla has done that, but there are very good reason why they may want their own custom 'games' or apps.

Games as entertainment are added-value and exclusive if Tesla produces their own IP, but it could be something productive like a protein-folding app to help better understand illnesses such as Alzheimer's. Could be simple or complex. Could be related to the car somehow. We won't know until they release it but there must be a very good reason to produce something from scratch (vs. licensing).

If Tesla produces something novel and useful (more than just entertainment), it'll be theirs exclusively. This may be the case with some of their licenses now. I'm guessing that the very smart people at Tesla have a good reason to want to develop their own 'games' or apps.

Full-disclosure, I come from the video game and AR/VR field.

 

[SVMike]

If Tesla produces something novel and useful (more than just entertainment), it'll be theirs exclusively. This may be the case with some of their licenses now. I'm guessing that the very smart people at Tesla have a good reason to want to develop their own 'games' or apps.

Full-disclosure, I come from the video game and AR/VR field.

Because the first thing car buyers ask when they walk into a traditional dealer is to ask what games are exclusively on their cars' entertainment system. Especially when looking at EVs.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Up to this point they've put roughly $0.00 into game development at Tesla.

All the games on the car were developed by someone else, at someone elses expense (decades ago in the case of many of them), then a guy who was already on the payroll doing basic UI/menu work added them to the menu system in about 5 minutes.


And they've gotten a ton of excellent and repeated press in exchange for this $0.00 investment.


Pretty solid business.

People keep acting like "adding asteroids to the menu" meant they couldn't hire an extra autopilot developer or something.

Speaking as a game developer, it is almost certainly not zero dollars. Someone would have had to make an SDK for those developers as well as program the UI, liaise with the other game developers to hit target specs etc. Not to mention I can only assume Tesla created their knockoff version of Mario Kart either in house or with an outsource studio. 2048 is also done in house I think, or it is the most basic version of that game they could find.

However, people getting outraged over a relatively small investment into games need to get a reality check. A few game developers at say $90k a year or less are not really going to break the bank. If you think a couple hundred grand is gonna make FSD a reality or fix their generally awful "customer service", think again.

Game haters think of it this way: those games are great PR pieces. Instead of wasting money making some cringefest ad like Chevy does, Tesla made a game that I know for a FACT got someone to buy because they saw me playing in a parking lot once. That advertising works well and is VERY cheap next to paying for awful superbowl ads nobody wants to see. And you get some time killers for your next supercharging stop!

 

[Knightshade]

Speaking as a game developer, it is almost certainly not zero dollars. Someone would have had to make an SDK for those developers

Why?

It's a standard Intel PC running Linux.

Asteroids runs via a Linux Atari emulator invented a generationa go.

Nobody had to develop anything besides the menu to launch the thing and a config file for the controls/

2048 is also done in house I think,

Nope.

It was originally written by an Italian developer having nothing to do with Tesla over a weekend in 2014 in JavaScript and CSS- a linux terminal version and other ports were later released.

I can only assume Tesla created their knockoff version of Mario Kart either in house or with an outsource studio.

Then you again assume incorrectly.

Notice how it's called Beach Buggy Racing 2?

The developer is Vector Unit, founded in 2007.

Beach Buggy Racing 1 came out in 2014 and is available on Android, iOS, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo...even Windows Phone.

BBR2 came out in 2018 on Android and iOS...development has literally nothing to do with Tesla.... and the game didn't show up on a Tesla until mid 2019 when Tesla realized they forgot to bother licensing Pole Position and had to replace it with a different racing game someone else had already written.

Again the "work" involved was mostly adding it to the menu and mapping the controls.

 

[Spacep0d]

Speaking as a game developer, it is almost certainly not zero dollars. Someone would have had to make an SDK for those developers as well as program the UI, liaise with the other game developers to hit target specs etc. Not to mention I can only assume Tesla created their knockoff version of Mario Kart either in house or with an outsource studio. 2048 is also done in house I think, or it is the most basic version of that game they could find.

However, people getting outraged over a relatively small investment into games need to get a reality check. A few game developers at say $90k a year or less are not really going to break the bank. If you think a couple hundred grand is gonna make FSD a reality or fix their generally awful "customer service", think again.

Game haters think of it this way: those games are great PR pieces. Instead of wasting money making some cringefest ad like Chevy does, Tesla made a game that I know for a FACT got someone to buy because they saw me playing in a parking lot once. That advertising works well and is VERY cheap next to paying for awful superbowl ads nobody wants to see. And you get some time killers for your next supercharging stop!

We also don't know that they're just developing a game solely for entertainment. For Tesla to skip licensing and develop in-house, it's probably going to be kinda special, or unique to Tesla. It could also be something they could license out (more income).

 

[AdamMacDon]

Why?

It's a standard Intel PC running Linux.

Asteroids runs via a Linux Atari emulator invented a generationa go.

Nobody had to develop anything besides the menu to launch the thing and a config file for the controls/




Then you again assume incorrectly.

Notice how it's called Beach Buggy Racing 2?

The developer is Vector Unit, founded in 2007.

Beach Buggy Racing 1 came out in 2014 and is available on Android, iOS, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo...even Windows Phone.

BBR2 came out in 2018 on Android and iOS...development has literally nothing to do with Tesla.... and the game didn't show up on a Tesla until mid 2019 when Tesla realized they forgot to bother licensing Pole Position and had to replace it with a different racing game someone else had already written.

Again the "work" involved was mostly adding it to the menu and mapping the controls.

One can only assume the original game didn't have Tesla themed art in it, unless they convinced the developers to do that on the house. Then there are also potential licensing costs. I'm sure it didn't cost zero dollars, but I agree in the grand scheme of expenses it's not like they broke the bank to add games to the car.

 

[Spacep0d]

Because the first thing car buyers ask when they walk into a traditional dealer is to ask what games are exclusively on their cars' entertainment system. Especially when looking at EVs.

I agree that developing unique IP games aren't high priority when they could simply license them. I for one don't care to play games in the car, especially with the steering wheel (rubbing tires on asphalt or concrete), but it adds a little added-value. What I'm saying is that there would generally be a very good reason for Tesla to want to make their own game or app. It's probably not for simple entertainment. There's a reason they'd want to own what they make. Maybe for exclusivity, or making extra $ with licensing? Don't know yet.

They've already licensed games, so I'm very curious what they want to develop on their own. It may also be a SpaceX themed game which would be far cooler than what they have now.

 

[AdamMacDon]

We also don't know that they're just developing a game solely for entertainment. For Tesla to skip licensing and develop in-house, it's probably going to be kinda special, or unique to Tesla. It could also be something they could license out (more income).

I didn't look at their careers page much, but if it's only one developer I highly doubt they will be making a game solo unless the scope is tiny. I have made solo games before and it's brutally hard even with today's tools. More likely is they want a dedicated guy to help onboarding new apps. Before it was probably a baton picked up by people with other roles in the company.

 

[Knightshade]

One can only assume the original game didn't have Tesla themed art in it, unless they convinced the developers to do that on the house

Less on the house and more "for a lot of awesome free press coverage and exposure of your already-for-sale-on-other-platforms game.

Beach Buggy Racing 2: Tesla Edition! — Vector Unit

That's the developer- including a picture of their development team sitting in a Tesla prior to launch of the game

Only real "development" on their end was adding the graphic of the car.... since they were ALREADY porting it to x86 and adding USB controller support for their Windows 10 port of the game.

. Then there are also potential licensing costs. I'm sure it didn't cost zero dollars

Pole Position cost 0 dollars- but that was the problem

 

[SVMike]

Why?

It's a standard Intel PC running Linux.

Really? I thought they were using an Nvidia chip (ARM) in the older HW and there own in-house chip after that.
Where is the Intel chip?

 

[Captbarret]

Screw the video games. Concentrate on quality!

Fix my auto wipers first please.

 

[Knightshade]

Really? I thought they were using an Nvidia chip (ARM) in the older HW and there own in-house chip after that.
Where is the Intel chip?

I think you're partly mixing up the driving computer and the infotainment computer.


MCU1 (never used in the 3 or Y, used in older S/X cars but upgradable to MCU2 for $2500) is indeed an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core ARM CPU... (and AP2s computer was also an Nvidia system)

MCU2 is an Intel E8000 Atom CPU (and is required for the newer video games like Beach Buggy Racing 2, Stardew Valley, Cuphead, etc)... the FSD computer is an in-house Tesla chip.