It looks like Sony is working on an interesting new feature for its PlayStation consoles, which would allow its games to adjust their difficulty level in real-time as the player progresses. Ideally, this would see PlayStation users always enjoying a proper level of difficulty, without having to tune it themselves.

This feature is already seen in games like MLB The Show, where the success or failure of a player is measured and reacted to as the game automatically adjusts its difficulty setting. This helps to prevent feelings of frustration from the game seeming too hard, as well as feelings of boredom from the game seeming too easy. It appears that Sony is intrigued by this idea, which could lead to a new era of how single-player games are enjoyed. However, Sony's system seems to be much more robust.

As reported by Insider Gaming, Sony recently published a patent that details this new difficulty-adjustment mechanic. It seems to build on the previously mentioned idea by introducing algorithms that finely tune difficulty settings to each specific player. These algorithms would measure how a player is coping with certain kinds of mechanics or challenges within a game, and adjust them accordingly. For example, if a player is struggling with reaction time, but not struggling with other factors, then the new feature will only adjust aspects of the game that help alleviate slower reaction times while leaving other aspects untouched.



The patent further describes that there is often too big of a difference between difficulty levels in games, with one seeming too easy and the next seeming too hard. Ideally, this new feature would create a seamless experience for gamers of all kinds. Users would be able to enjoy PlayStation's impressive lineup of games without having to test out various difficulty settings, and the game would be finely tuned to their own skills or weaknesses.

This feature might also do away with the idea of famously difficult games like Dark Souls. However, it's likely that this would be an optional feature for players to utilize.

This news follows other interesting patents recently published, such as Sony's story replay patent. This feature would log various "trigger points," which are described as pivotal story moments within a game, and allow the user to seamlessly replay these trigger points at any time, similar to skipping between scenes on a movie player. Sony described how this feature would even allow players to redo certain in-game choices, allowing them to pick up from a trigger point and start an entirely new timeline.

Posted: Dec 21, 2023 11:53 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/sony-patent-game-difficulty-adapt-player-skill-level/