U.S. Patent No. 10,857,466: Audience adjusted gaming
Issued December 8, 2020, to eBay Inc.
Filed: November 20, 2018 (claiming priority to December 29, 2014)
Overview:
U.S. Patent No. 10,857,466 (the ‘466 patent) relates to adjusting video game mechanics based on the audience watching a stream of the game. The ‘466 patent details a system which receives requests to view a stream of a video game and provides potentially modifiable game mechanics (along with the stream) to devices requesting the stream. The system intakes requests for one or more modifications to the game mechanics and then at least one or more of the game mechanics is altered accordingly.
The game mechanics that can be altered in the ‘466 patent include: difficulty, map size, and game character attributes like movement speed or damage-per-second. It could be required that a viewer of stream has to pay to input game modifications, and the modification could vary based on the amount of money contributed. The amount of time that the modification lasts could also depend on amount of money contributed. The ‘466 patent could allow viewers of video game streams more interaction with the stream they are watching and encourage more donations from viewers by making donations more rewarding to donors.
Abstract:
A system and method includes a first device with one or more processors coupled to a memory that executes instructions from the memory to perform the steps of receiving a request to begin a videogame; streaming video of the videogame to an audience; determine a popularity of the streaming video; and changing the videogame mechanics based on the popularity of the streaming video.
Illustrative Claim:
- A system, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform operations, comprising: receiving, from one or more computing devices, a request to receive streaming video of a video game; providing one or more game mechanics to the one or more computing devices; receiving, from the one or more computing devices, input that requests at least one of the one or more game mechanics be changed; and altering the at least one of the one or more game mechanics based, at least in part, on the received input.