Volkswagen Brings Pac-Man to its In-Car Infotainment Screens in Europe

Volkswagen owners in parts of Europe can now play the iconic Pac-Man arcade game on their cars’ large infotainment screens and enjoy an immersive experience with customised graphics and lighting effects – when parked, of course! A new special edition of the classic 2D game, which was first released in 1980, will be available in the optional AirConsole app in partnership with the Japanese media publishing house Bandai Namco. Vehicles running the game will have to be parked, and gameplay can be controlled using a paired smartphone.

Pac-Man Championship Edition recreates the gameplay of the original – players have to control the titular character through a maze, collecting dots and avoiding enemies. The player must “eat” all the dots on screen to complete a maze, after which a new one appears. In Volkswagen’s implementation, “power pellets” which temporarily give the player a power boost, have been replaced with VW logos. Bonus points are also awarded for touching silhouettes of classic VW cars including the Beetle, Bus, and Golf IV R32.

The game will be available on Volkswagen’s ID.7, ID.5, ID.4 and ID.3 as well as the 2025 model-year Tayron, Tiguan, Passat, Golf Variant, and Golf. Users will have to have the IDS 4.0 software installed, and will need to be signed in to a Volkswagen account with an active VW Connect Plus subscription. The AirConsole app is available via the In-Car Shop app store. 

AirConsole integrates with the in-car lighting, including the ID.Light strip below the windscreen on recent ID models. Users can pair their phones as controllers using a simple QR code. Pac-Man Championship Edition, which has been available on other platforms since 2007, adds a competitive element to the game with more speed options, new bonus items, and new maze designs. Gamplay is timed rather than making users progress through levels, although core gameplay mechanics remain the same as in the 1980 original.