Folks over at GameRant have spotted a patent filed by publishing giant, Electronic Arts, for technology that allows players to stream full games before they’ve downloaded. The idea is to let players jump in instantly rather than waiting for the download to complete.
The patent is for a “dynamic streaming video game client” that works with “a huge range of devices.” The application specifically makes reference to “desktops, laptops, video game platforms, television set-top boxes, televisions (for example, Internet TVs), network-enabled kiosks, car-console devices computerized appliances, wearable devices (for example, smart watches and glasses with computing functionality), and wireless mobile devices (for example, smart phones, PDAs, tablets, or the like), to name a few.”
In its application, EA recognizes that it’s frustrating for some players to have to sit through massive downloads of up to 100 GBs, especially if they have limited time. The publisher hopes to resolve this issue with its new technology.
“Due to the size of the video games, the installation process can be quite time consuming,” reads the description. “The size of games, in some instances, can be over 100 GBs of data to download over a network, which may take many hours to complete. This download process can be quite frustrating if a user is interested in playing a new game with friends or has a limited amount of time to play the game.”
The application was originally filed in 2019, but was only recently patented on February 16th. It’s unclear if EA is actively developing said technology.
