Sony Files Patents For Game “replay” from “trigger points” for Streaming

There is nothing quite like playing a game for the first time, and sometimes you wish to replay a certain spot repeatedly. Well, there is good news as Sony has started patenting some interesting new gameplay features that promise to allow players to replay a game from specific checkpoints and to experience a game's story once again streaming.

This information was shared in a "Content Streaming With Gameplay Launch" document. The document reveals that the patent for the new technology was first filed on 11 July 2023, with the document being published publicly on 2 November 2023 via the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO for short. The document details a game containing numerous "trigger points of media content." it says that players can restart and experience those specific points again at these specific points. There is a catch; these particular points need to be provided "by the platform, publisher, or third-party publisher." These points could mean the start of a quest, boss battle, or whenever a player levels up.

 

The document then goes into further detail, stating that every trigger would have its own designated "set of game data" that would be "based on user gameplay data" or dictated by the game's platform or publisher. Now, depending on where the player is, they could select the trigger point from which they would like to replay the game.

Sony states that this new "replay" system would allow players to have an altogether "unique user experience for consumption of media content and interactive gameplay," and thanks to its unique patent, players will "selectively play portions" of the game while still being able to enjoy its whole story. Sony says the biggest inspiration for this feature was "movie cuts" of some games. This feature will allow players to once again experience their favorite parts of their game and not have to sit through the entire game to experience it.

While this isn't the first patent that Sony has filed for the PlayStation system, it is certainly the most interesting as it allows us to replay story moments from games such as God of War Ragnarok. However, this most recent patent builds off of the previous patents that the company has filed for, specifically ones filed on 11 November 2019 and 31 December 2021, all of which were filed under the same name. As exciting as this news is, only time will tell how well these new systems will be implemented.

Daman Shelley (@UndeadandTired)
Editor, NoobFeed