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Sony may be looking into some innovative ways of keeping player retention for longer stretches of time, with a proposed machine learning feature coming up with a special "what if" replay method showcasing a game's more advanced gameplay outcomes. This is just the latest in a long line of inventive feature patents that the company might be hoping to leverage in the future to improve a player's gaming experience in every possible way.
Namely, Sony has been on a bit of a patent spree over the past year or so, with an impressively comprehensive lineup of features that could very well end up being crucial for some of its services in the long term. From advanced user interface implementations, all the way to interesting new ways of combating frame rate dips, Sony's R&D departments appear to be working overtime across the board.
The latest in a line of speedy patent submissions, Sony's latest listing refers to a unique "what if" game replay system that would identify and display hypothetical game scenarios that are contextually relevant to the player at a given moment in time. Conceptually similar to Sony's recent player takeover patent, this feature would leverage a special machine-learning algorithm to keep the player engaged by showing them what gameplay outcomes their choices might lead to. This could also prevent frustration at coming to terms with the game's more advanced and complex features, as the player would quickly and easily learn whether they wish to pursue the displayed outcome in the first place.
Curiously, this feature would go hand-in-hand with Sony's recent spoiler-blocking patent, where AI could spontaneously censor potential spoilers without any additional input from the player themselves. The game could, theoretically, generate gameplay outcome videos on the fly, and if they end up including a spoiler of some sort, the machine-learning algorithm could modify the generated content to leave said spoiler out of the video.
Even as PS5 shipments dramatically increase in number, Sony isn't twiddling its thumbs. With patents such as the one illustrated in the article coming in at a rapid pace, the company is seemingly looking to prepare its software stack for all manner of eventualities in the long term. It remains to be seen which ones might persevere and end up getting used, of course, but it's all but certain that Sony already has plans for most of them, at the very least.
Sony is, of course, in a bit of a pickle in regard to PlayStation potentially losing Call of Duty in the future. As Microsoft is picking up the pace and possibly acquiring Activision Blizzard, Sony could be hoping to use its roster of specialized, patented features to make its own ecosystem more interesting and easier to use than that of Xbox. Whatever the case may be, seeing what comes of this patent will be interesting for sure.