Sony recently published another debatable patent proposal for a replay feature that would let users play from any part of a game’s campaign.
While Sony has been known for their peculiar patent submissions, this one was another highly debatable one. While it definitely seems like a good idea, but it could be problematic in so many ways. The latest patent proposed that gamers could have a replay feature that would allow them to play from any part of a game’s campaign. The concept would eliminate the need for players to have to fully complete the game to choose where they begin the campaign.
Exputer was the first to catch wind of Sony’s patent filing for this replay system. On paper, this all sounds good. Yeah, there are some games where starting at a certain point after playing the game already would be tedious. But games with a narrative tightness would suffer a lot with this feature. It may also eliminate the purpose of overcoming puzzles or problem-solving aspects of a game.
I get it; some games, like Elden Ring or Dark Souls, are super hard. But that does not mean you should be skipping around the story? I would not even know how that feature would work for FromSoftware games, where the storylines are not typically linear. Sony’s replay system was described to include multiple trigger points in games that will avoid the issue of having to play the rest of the campaign to reach a specific part. These trigger points are described as the start of an “activity” such as a boss battle or quest, or when a player levels up.
Supermassive GamesSome popular examples of this have been seen in games like Detroit: Become Human, Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology games. The legal document titled “CONTENT STREAMING WITH GAMEPLAY LAUNCH” mentions how the replay system would allow gamers to re-experience the cutscenes and story moments of the games right from the beginning. Sony notes how players can technically view these moments through online videos and other means, but it does not bring the same level of satisfaction. The conventional way requires users to replay the whole campaign again.
This is not Sony’s first attempt to file this playback system patent. This latest patent builds on their previous filings on 11 November 2019 and 31 December 2021. So, whether this will actually go through is still not too likely. Again, the concept seems to have good intentions, but it may be a little too complicated to lay out what it needs to do. I would not even begin to wonder how it would affect trophies. Time will tell if this patent will be enforced.
