A recent Sony patent suggests that the company is toying with the idea of AI that’ll help players get through a portion of the game that they’re stuck in. A description of the patent, which was filed last July but published last week, gives an example of a player struggling with a boss fight.
“Hey PlayStation, how do I defeat the boss?” players will be able to verbally ask the system, which will then consult the player’s data alongside a database of other players with similar activities to suggest possible solutions. The patent refers to this as “in-game resource” which may encompass things like “downloadable content, add-ons, upgrades, items, tips, strategy, communal data, etc.”
Yes, you read that right. The suggestions may include microtransactions. Time-saver packs, anyone?
The idea of AI suggesting microtransactions isn’t new. Activision has experimented with something similar before. That said, it’s worth noting that DLC and add-ons are just two of many suggestions the application lists, and patents don’t always come to fruition.
The application further states:
Many video games have hundreds to thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase, and use within the video game. Some of these include tools, armor, skins, vehicles, consumables, etc. There are also hundreds to thousands of individual game titles available to players on many popular platforms such as PlayStation, personal computers (PC), and mobile devices. This results in a selection of items that is far more vast for players of present than that for players of just a few product cycles ago. While both the range of in-game items as well as the number of game titles has steadily increased over the years, the methodology players use to find suitable or effective items for making progress within a game has not kept pace.
Do our readers think we’ll see this system in the PlayStation 5?
[Source: Patent Scope via VideoGamer]
