Sony continues to actively develop ideas that, in theory, can facilitate the passage of even the most complex and demanding games. The corresponding patents of the company speak about the movement in this direction. Among them is an expert assistance system, difficulty adjustment based on machine learning, as well as an AI assistant for passing certain sections of the game.Demon’s Souls (2020)
Yesterday, the GameRant portal drew attention to one of Sony’s new patents called “A system that connects a player with an expert during gameplay.”
It was approved on April 22 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- the user’s gameplay is streamed to the server, where it is compared with the actions of other players in the same game moment;if a player wants to ask for help in passing, the system selects users who have successfully passed a difficult moment;
- the player sees which of the so—called “experts” are online, and can turn to them for advice – in a text chat or via an audio call in the PlayStation mobile application;
- “experts” will even be able to complete a section of the game for another user using the PlayStation Share Play function.
- The patent suggests that players requesting help will be able to enable a special feature that will help avoid critical spoilers during the “expert” prompt.
The scheme of interaction with the expertGameRant also draws attention to another patent related to adaptive complexity in games.
The system compares the player’s actions with other users and determines the level of his skills. In theory, this will allow you to skip some boss battles and the most difficult parts of the game.
A similar patent was written about in the winter. It was approved on January 28 and is tied to changing complexity using machine learning. For example, if a player unsuccessfully tries to defeat a certain boss, the system can change the set of his attacks and make the passage easier. However, this also works in the opposite direction — if the player copes with the enemy too quickly and easily, the difficulty will be increased, and new techniques will appear in the attack pattern.
This month, another Sony patent was published called “Personal AI Assistant”, which was approved by WIPO on April 15. We are talking about artificial intelligence, which is trained on the actions of the player.
At some point, the AI will be able to go through individual sections of the game on its own. In theory, this system can facilitate the passage of difficult stages or bosses, as well as automate the execution of routine actions — including the execution of the same type of side quests or daily tasks in fritupley projects.
It is important to note that none of the listed patents guarantees that such systems will appear on the PlayStation. Sony, like any large company, files dozens (if not hundreds) of patents annually, but only a few of them are implemented.