Entertainment
Sony patent lets PlayStation games play themselves so you don’t have to-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro
A new patent suggests Sony is researching ways to allow games to play themselves, whenever you get bored of them.
Pro tip: don’t play games you aren’t enjoying (Picture: Sony)
A new patent suggests Sony is researching ways to allow games to play themselves, whenever you get bored of them.
While the idea of allowing a game to play itself may sound dumb, it’s a feature which has crept into a number of role-playing titles across PC and mobile.
The idea of an auto-play function is mainly prevalent in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), like Runescape for example, where you can conduct certain repetitive tasks despite being away from your keyboard.
It’s a feature which hasn’t become the norm in console games but it seems Sony is looking into the idea, judging by a new patent.
Described as a ‘method and system for auto-playing portions of a video game’, the patent is essentially designed to allow AI to take over for the player on certain tedious or repetitive sections of a game, like grinding levels.
As described in the filing, this would be done by allowing the auto-play mode to use ‘data from the user play model’ to simulate the ‘gameplay style of the user’.
When the game is done grinding for players, a notification will pop up asking whether they want to continue auto-play or take back control themselves.
A flow diagram from the filing (Picture: Sony)
‘By using auto-play mode, users can avoid the need to play parts of a game that they do not like playing and reduce the amount of time it takes to complete the game because the AI player can play the grinding portions of the game at a faster speed,’ it reads.
A flow diagram shows how this mode will only be available during ‘non-critical game events’ – so it’s not like you can kick back and sail through a particularly difficult boss.
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As ever, the existence of a patent doesn’t mean the feature will come to fruition, but it’s interesting that it is being experimented with at least. A number of patents have been filed by Sony in recent years, including the ability to restart a game from anywhere and using a potato as a controller.
If it does become a widespread feature though, a reasonable person might suggest that any section where a game is playing itself probably should have been cut altogether.
If you’re asking the game to play itself so you don’t have to then multiple things have gone wrong somewhere along the line.
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