Sony has filed a patent application for using artificial intelligence, or more specifically machine learning, to empower game bosses the ability to adapt to player choices during battles. The patent describes a process whereby video game data and content is analyzed and npc content is dynamically updated. The patent was filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment on October 1 and is still under review.
“A player interacts with a video game console and display, connected to a video game platform that processes player and game data to generate non-player character content.”
– Sony Interactive Entertainment
It’ll be interesting to see if Sony is granted this patent and, if so, how long until someone attempts to contest it. While some developers and publishers have managed to copyright various in-house technologies, such as the Nemesis system used by Warner Bros. Games for its Shadow of Mordor games, it’s an unusual move for a console manufacturer to pursue this direction. However, Sony does house its share of game studios under PlayStation Studios as well, but the same can be said for Microsoft/Xbox and Nintendo for their respective gaming teams.
What does this mean for gamers? Well, either way, the idea of using AI for NPCs in games has already been floated, and so it seems like a natural progression to allow bosses to evolve to players’ choices in those epic battles. The days of memorizing button combos and repeating a chain of attacks could be coming to an end en masse for games as similar technology gets adopted by developers. One only has to wonder what a modern-day version of Pac-Man could end up looking like if the ghosts got even smarter, and early on at that. Meanwhile, sequels to Soulslike games such as Elden Ring, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice could become far more difficult for players to beat.
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