Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to cars

Your next Xbox could cost tens of thousands of dollars. Because your next car could be an Xbox. Microsoft and LG Electronics announced Tuesday that Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to select internet-connected vehicles, meaning you could play Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded while you’re on the road.

Xbox functionality is being built into LG’s webOS Automotive Content Platform (ACP), letting passengers — not drivers, please and thank you! — stream and play games from the Xbox app. And while specific models weren’t announced, LG said it aims to deploy the webOS-powered ACP in 20 million vehicles by 2030.

Granted, cars that play video games aren’t a wild new invention. Electronic vehicle maker Tesla has offered the option to play video games like Cuphead as part of the Tesla Arcade app, and previously featured emulated Atari games as Easter eggs. BMW tried something similar. Sony and Honda’s Afeela EV will offer the option to Remote Play stream PlayStation 5 games from a home console. And aftermarket accessory makers have been integrating game consoles into minivans for decades now.

Microsoft’s expansion of the Xbox platform to cars, trucks, and vans comes as the company broadens the definition of what is and isn’t an Xbox, and moves away from dedicated, walled-garden console hardware. But the real test of “car is Xbox” will be when I can drive an Xbox-compatible car in a future Forza Motorsport game, park it at a virtual EV charging station, and play a different Forza game through the cloud in the backseat of my digital vehicle.