U.S. Patent no. 10,286,327: Multiplayer video game matchmaking system and methods

Issued May 14, 2019 to Electronic Arts Inc.
Priority Date October 21, 2016

Summary:
U.S. Patent No. 10,286,327 (the ‘327 Patent) relates to the multiplayer experience in video games. Video games that provide the user with a better multiplayer experience are more likely to maintain a higher number of users and have increased engagement time. The ‘327 Patent describes a system where a computer selects a plurality of the users and arrangers then to form pool to match together to plan an instance of a video game.  Connected graphs of users are created and the computer analyzes data to create a grouping of these users. Playable instances of the game correspond to these user graphs to try to create a better matchmaking experience.

Abstract:
Embodiments of systems presented herein may identify users to play a multiplayer video game together using a mapping system and machine learning algorithms to create sets of matchmaking plans for the multiplayer video game that increases player or user retention. Embodiments of systems presented herein can determine the predicted churn rate, or conversely retention rate, of a user waiting to play a video game if the user is matched with one or more additional users in a multiplayer instance of the video game.

Illustrative Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method comprising: as implemented by an interactive computing system configured with specific computer-executable instructions, selecting a plurality of users from a pool of users, the pool of users available for selection to play an instance of a video game, wherein at least a first portion of the instance of the video game executes on a user computing device of at least one user from the plurality of users and a second portion of the instance of the video game executes on the interactive computing system; creating a connected graph comprising a plurality of vertexes and a plurality of edges, wherein each vertex is connected by at least one edge from the plurality of edges and wherein each vertex represents a different user from the plurality of users such that each user from the plurality of users is paired within the connected graph with at least one other user from the plurality of users; accessing user interaction data for each user of the plurality of users, the user interaction data corresponding to the user’s interaction with the video game, wherein the user interaction data for the user is selected from data that is more recent than a particular time threshold; for each edge in the connected graph, assigning a weight to the edge based at least in part on a first churn risk of a first user corresponding to a first node of the edge and a second churn risk of a second user corresponding to a second node of the edge, wherein the first churn risk is based at least in part on the user interaction data for the first user and the second churn risk is based at least in part on the user interaction data for the second user; selecting a set of edges from the connected graph to obtain a set of selected edges based at least in part on the weights assigned to each edge within the connected graph, wherein each vertex in the connected graph is connected to at least one edge within the set of selected edges; and initiating a playable instance of the video game using at least a pair of users corresponding to vertexes of one or more edges included in the set of selected edges.