Hey everyone,

Time for a quick look at what’s brewing at BeamNG. We’ve been busy tweaking physics, packing for conferences, and getting our hands on some serious next-gen hardware.

Here is the latest update on where we are and where we're heading next.

/ The v0.39 Update

We are incredibly excited to roll out our 2026 Summer Release - BeamNG.tech v0.39! This update is packed with new features to streamline your workflows, whether you're developing autonomous pipelines, testing ADAS, or building training environments. One of the biggest highlights is our brand-new, native C++ ROS 2 integration. Instead of relying on a Python middleman, this gives you a high-performance, direct data pipeline straight from the simulator, complete with its own UI in the World Editor. We're also leaning into the AI space with new Model Context Protocol (MCP) support, meaning you can now seamlessly hook up external LLMs and AI agents (like Cursor) to query and control the sim.

On the automotive side, we went under the hood and completely rebuilt our Adaptive Cruise Control and Vehicle Platooning systems to make them significantly more robust and realistic across different vehicles and inclines. If your focus is on instruction, be sure to check out the new Driver Training experience, a compact driving-school proving ground with cone courses and parking exercises that works perfectly as a template for your own custom missions. We've also added a new Traffic Signals API in BeamNGpy to easily dictate traffic light states on the fly, replaced the old JSON logger with a much better Vehicle Signal Logger inside the World Editor, and expanded the Template Car Generator so you can dial in your exact physics.

Combine all of that with updated MATLAB/Simulink R2024b bridges, improved OpenDRIVE imports, new depth-camera options for translucent materials, and a ton of quality-of-life additions like the handy safe_spawn feature, and you've got one serious update. Be sure to check out the full changelog on our blog to see the complete list of everything we've added!

/ BeamNG.drive Coming to PlayStation 5!

We have some huge news for our flagship consumer product, BeamNG.drive: the game is officially coming to PlayStation 5 later this year!

Bringing our signature soft-body physics engine to consoles has been one of the biggest engineering hurdles we’ve ever tackled. It required optimizing almost everything under the hood from performance and UI to controls, to ensure the game keeps its true identity intact when you’re playing from the couch.

The best part? These massive performance and memory optimization improvements aren't just exclusive to consoles. They will be baked straight into the PC version when the next update drops, meaning a smoother experience for everyone. You can already head over to the PlayStation Store to add it to your wishlist!

/ Partnering with NVIDIA Spark

If you caught NVIDIA’s recent keynote, you probably saw them announce NVIDIA Spark, their new ARM-based SoC designed for Windows PCs. It packs a 20-core ARM CPU alongside a powerhouse next-gen GPU architecture, bringing serious AI and computing power to client hardware.

We are officially on board as a board development support partner. What does that actually mean? We are already optimizing BeamNG’s soft-body physics engine to run natively on this new architecture. For automotive OEMs and developers, this makes it much easier to run complex virtual prototypes and test ADAS software right on next-gen ARM hardware without breaking a sweat.

⯈ EVENTS ⯇

/ Out and About: Events Highlights

We’ve been hitting the road to chat with researchers and industry folks about what real-time physics simulation can do for vehicle development.

• SE 2026 & CHOOSE Forum (Bern, Switzerland): Earlier this year, we teamed up with Damian Boborzi from the University of Augsburg at the CHOOSE Forum. We hosted a session on testing autonomous and cyber-physical systems, breaking down exactly how BeamNG.tech can be used to safely validate software before it ever hits real asphalt.

• Explore to Innovate 2026 (Benningen, Germany): In July, we headed down to Innovationspark Allgäu Airport for an amazing couple of days focused on vehicle dynamics and connected mobility. It was packed with insights into the future of the industry, from autonomous trucking to digital twins. A major highlight for us was watching our own Florian Faistauer take the main stage to present an interdisciplinary approach to real-time full-vehicle simulation using BeamNG.tech. We had a blast powering the tech tours and chatting with everyone who stopped by to connect with our team!

• TAROT 2026 Summer School (Munich, Germany): We were incredibly proud to sponsor the TAROT 2026 Summer School in mid-July at the Technical University of Munich. The week was entirely dedicated to testing, validating, and securing AI-enabled systems. It was a fantastic initiative bringing together students, researchers, and industry experts to dive into topics like AI robustness and data-driven metrics. A huge shoutout to the organizers at TUM, fortiss, AIT, and AI4I for putting together such a stellar program!

Plenty more exciting things cooking behind the scenes, so keep an eye out. Until next time, happy simulating!

Best,

BeamNG