Bullet Club
Banned
Title
(EN) IN-GAME RESOURCE SURFACING PLATFORM
Abstract
(EN)
Technology is described for surfacing contextually related resources to a player of a video game by way of a surfacing platform. In a method embodiment, an operation processes a query from a player of a video game that is related to completing an objective. The method includes operations for processing game data of the player for determining a current state and processing game data of other players that have completed the objective. The method further includes operations for identifying successful attempts of completing the objective by other players and the resources used in doing so. The method selects a resource that is usable by the player to complete the objective based on those resources by the other players in the successful attempts and presents the resource to the player for immediate use.
Field of the Disclosure
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to video games, and more particularly, to methods and systems for surfacing contextually relevant in-game resources to players that are in need of help during gameplay.
Background
[0002] Many video-games have hundreds to thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase, and use within the video game. Some of these include tools, armor, skins, vehicles, consumables, etc. There are also hundreds to thousands of individual game titles available to players on many popular platforms such as PlayStation®, personal computers (PC), and mobile devices. This results in a selection of items that is far more vast for players of present than that for players of just a few product cycles ago. While both the range of in-game items as well as the number of game titles has steadily increased over the years, the methodology players use to find suitable or effective items for making progress within a game has not kept pace.
[0003] For example, a player generally must rely on a combination of trial and error, guesswork, and research such as by asking a friend when deciding on which item, add-on, or upgrade to obtain in order to achieve a goal. Even then, the player may have to experiment with a number of items, add-ons, and/or upgrades, before arriving at one that is most effective for their particular objective, character, style of play, etc. Thus, there is currently a disconnect between players and the resources available to them within a game, and more particularly those resources most suitable for the individual player’s circumstances, character, and playstyle. When players become frustrated with their repeated failures to accomplish some objective, there is a higher likelihood that the player will quit the game and not experience the totality of what the game is intended to offer. There is thus a need and a benefit to develop and integrate an in-game platform to match players with those resources that are most likely to help them succeed in view of the player’s playstyle and behavior both within the game in question as well as across a plurality of additional games the player participates in. There is moreover, a need and benefit for game publishers and virtual store platforms to be able to identify specific in-game resources that would complement the player in their gameplay and communicate the same to them.
[0004] It is in this context that embodiments arise.
Edit: Just adding the microtransaction bit into the OP.
[0065] In some embodiments, the window may provide statistical data as to the rate of success and the average time to completion that the community of players registered when using the presented resource. The player is thus provided with communal data relating to the actual effectiveness of the resource as played by a community of peers. The player can make a more informed decision to select the resource or not and can be confident in their selection. In some embodiments, selection of various resources may require a form of payment, for example by using virtual currency or real money. In some embodiments, the selection of various resources may be in the form known as a“micro-transaction,” which deal with relatively small sums of real money. In other embodiments, selection of various resources may not require payment of currency, virtual or real, but the game system may limit the number of resources the player can select. It is also contemplated that selection of any resource will result in immediate access and use of the resource to minimize the delay between when a query is submitted and when a solution made live. Although a window is shown in the embodiment of Figure 9, other forms of communicating the information contained in the window may be used, such as by use of a secondary display, or by audio communication, or by transitioning to a full screen display of the window.
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