Many people who play video games do so simply as a hobby. Others enjoy the competitive edge that gaming can provide. There’s the more traditional PvP competition found in shooters likeCall of DutyandCounter Strike, as well as MOBAs such asLeague of LegendsandDOTA 2. For single-player games, it may be more difficult for people to find that competition. However, thanks to speedrunning, now players can match their times with the online community of a given game. Since its release, for example,Elden Ringspeedrunners have constantly set world records, and an easy way to view the best times might be a welcome convenience.
Now,Sonyis looking to make speedrunning a bit easier on its platforms. While speedrunning is incredibly popular in gaming, especially for streaming, it is seen as something that isn’t immediately accessible for many. Taking on a game likeElden Ringrequires hours upon hours to find the necessary strategies to complete the game as quickly as possible. However, with a newSonypatent, it may be easier to get into speedrunning and for a player to record their times.
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The new patent concerns replayable activities for interactive content titles. The patent mentions the possibility of implementing a ranking system into games, and clarifies that the replayable activities would be competitive in nature. Basically, the patent seems to allow for players of a given game to record their scores and times for a certain activity, not only permitting replayability but emphasizing it. Considering the patent mentions certain activities and not the whole game, it implies that there could be specific rankings for events, similarly to how someHitmanplayers speedrun specific levelsrather than the whole game.
By coming up with its own ranking system, it seems that Sony would prefer that its users not record their speedruns on third-party sites. However, as speedrunning takes place on all platforms and a fair amount of speedrunners still use older consoles to find new exploits in games like theoriginalSuper Mario Bros, it is doubtful that Sony will take hold of the speedrunning sphere.
It is likely then that this Sony patent will simply make speedrunning accessible to gamers who currently find the whole process confusing. Rather than relying on other software to record their times and place them in a ranking system, Sony will have its own league for in-game activities. This news follows another recent patent developed bySony that aims to make understanding its new hardware features easier.
