While virtually every gaming company is eager to patent a potentially industry-defining idea well ahead of time, none of them have recently been quite as prolific asSony. The company has submitted a whole slew of unique patent instances over the last couple of weeks and months, and while most of them are relatively uninteresting to the average gamer, others have the potential to well and truly make waves.
One of these potentially prospectiveSonypatents was submitted very recently, and it references a special feature that would allow streamers and their spectators to interact with the scope of the game they’re playing and watching, respectively. The so-called “Helper Mode” would essentially allow the viewers to assist players in real-time, according to the listing in question.
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According to the patent description, Sony’s idea for “Helper Mode” would support a number of unique implementations that would seemingly differ from one game to another. In some instances, this might mean drawing certain meta-data from the game, while in others, it might rely on bespoke developer-provided tools that would correlate streamers and spectators, perhaps through the use of a cloud gaming solution. This listing might even relate toSony’s player interaction tracking patent, which is intended to be used for harassment and abuse management in real-time.
Many of Sony’s feature usage descriptions talk about using machine learning algorithms to facilitate cross-service interactions, in particular. Since the company is now seemingly fully dedicated tobroadening the PlayStation PC gaming service offerings, investing in advanced streaming tech seems like an obvious step forward. Especially since Sony seems to be thinking outside the box with such broad, generalized patent listings that would allow them to truly dominate the niche if the features are executed correctly.
It’s worth pointing out that Sony is intent on moving the industry forward without making it overly complex for casual gamers to interact with its cutting-edge releases. In fact,Sony recently patented a hardware feature explainerthat could vastly improve how players familiarize themselves with new gaming hardware. Better still, this could open up the industry for an even greater array of gamers who may not have had the chance to previously learn the various gaming tropes that are relevant today.
Naturally, not every modern Sony patent is about moving the industry forward in a meaningful way.Sony recently published a PS5 faceplate patent, for example, which was little more than a simple and straightforward way for the company to stop copycats in their tracks. On top of that, it remains yet to be seen what, if anything, will come from Sony’s recent patent listings. Even in a best-case scenario, it may take months or years before the first developments are shown to the wider audience, stopping any potential excitement in its tracks for the time being.
