Sony patents a “dynamic game difficulty” adjustment system to aid in console gaming
Ever since the launch of the PS5, Sony has been exploring a way to provide help tips and in-game assistance to PlayStation console users, and the console itself launched with a guide feature to provide players with instructions for supported games. However, it seems that the company has now come up with a new idea, as Sony patents a system for adjusting the so-called. dynamic difficulty difficulty of the games, which can be adjusted on the fly based on the previous performance of the player.
This system can analyze the performance of the players and automatically change the difficulty level of the game based on their results.
„The methods of the present disclosure may collect data when a user is playing one or more different types of games when a decision needs to be made as to whether the difficulty of the game should be changed.“, it is written in the official description of the patent, which was noticed by the Eurogamer portal.
The collected data is then evaluated by the system to determine whether the user's level of gaming performance corresponds to the expected level of performance, the patent description reads.
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patentscope.wipo.intIf the level of in-game performance achieved by users differs from the expected standard, the system will automatically adjust the parameters that affect the difficulty of the game. These parameters include movement speed, lag or hesitation, character strength, number of competitors, and other relevant metrics. Adjustments will be made by the system gradually, until the level of performance achieved by users matches the expected level for the specific title.
This patent represents a potential solution for adapting to players of different skill levels. For example, beginners or those unfamiliar with a particular genre can start with a lower level of difficulty, and the system will gradually increase the challenges as the user's skills improve.
Although the patent provides a glimpse into the potential future of gaming on PlayStation consoles, it is not certain whether this dynamic game difficulty adjustment system will be implemented in upcoming games. Still, it does provide an interesting glimpse into what Sony's R&D team is working on behind the scenes.