INTEGRATING SOCIAL CONTACT IDENTIFIERS INTO WAGERING GAMES

• US 20100203963A1
• Filed: 09/23/2008
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LNW Gaming Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WMS Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Gura, Damon E., Hornik, Jeremy M., Allen, Jeffrey L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,360,862 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/30
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3218 wherein at least part of the system is portable
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3225 Data transfer within a gaming system, e.g. data sent between gaming machines and users
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3244 Payment aspects of a gaming system, e.g. payment schemes, setting payout ratio, bonus or consolation prizes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3281 wherein game attributes are transferred between players, e.g. points, weapons, avatars

Abstract

Described herein are processes and devices that integrate social contact identifiers into wagering games. One of the devices described is a social contact identifier integrator. The social contact identifier integrator can display one or more elements of a wagering game, such as graphics that are part of, or connected to, the wagering game. A player of the wagering game can have a social network account that has one or more related social network accounts, such as friends or acquaintances. The social contact identifier integrator selects a social contact identifier from one of the related social network accounts and integrates the social contact identifier into the wagering game. The social contact identifier integrator can also determine and assign rewards to the player or to the related social network account whose social contact identifier appeared in the wagering game.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying one or more elements of a wagering game, wherein the wagering game is associated with a first player account;

selecting a second player account that is associated with the first player account;

displaying, as another element of the wagering game, a social contact identifier associated with the second player account;

determining a reward to be assigned to any one of the first player account and the second player account; and

assigning the reward to any one of the first player account and the second player account.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the social contact identifier includes replacing a graphical image in the wagering game with an avatar associated with the second player account.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the social contact identifier includes replacing any of the one or more elements of the wagering game with the social contact identifier, and wherein placement of the social contact identifier affects the pay-out calculation of the wagering game.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein any one of the selecting the second player account and the displaying the social contact identifier are done randomly.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the reward further comprises:

determining that one or more additional activities must be performed before assigning the reward; and

determining that the one or more additional activities have been completed.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a notification message about the reward to any one of the first player account and the second player account.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the second player account to the first account by

sending an invitation from the first player account to the second player account, and

receiving from the second player account an indication of acceptance to the invitation.

8. A network comprising:

a machine configured to present a wagering game wherein the wagering game is associated with a first player account, and wherein the wagering game can display social contact identifiers associated with other player accounts; and

a social contact identifier integrator configured to integrate a social contact identifier into the wagering game, the social contact identifier including

a social network manager configured to select a second player account that is associated with the first player account,

a wagering game integration controller configured to integrate, into the wagering game, a social contact identifier associated with the second player account; and

a rewards controller configured to assign a reward to any one of the first player account and the second player account.

9. The network of claim 8, wherein the wagering game integration controller is configured to replace a graphical image in the wagering game with an avatar associated with the second player account.

10. The network of claim 8, wherein the wagering game integration controller is configured to replace a play element in the wagering game with the social contact identifier, wherein the placement of the social contact identifier affects the pay-out calculation of the wagering game.

11. The network of claim 8, wherein the wagering game integration controller is configured to integrate the social contact identifier randomly.

12. The network of claim 8, further comprising:

a community server to store the rewards in any one of the first player account and the second player account; and

a reward server configured to allow any one of the first player account and the second player account to redeem the rewards.

13. The network of claim 8, further comprising:

an integration rules store configured to store rules regarding integrating the social contact identifier into the wagering game;

a user settings store; and

an authorization information store.

14. The network of claim 8, wherein the rewards controller is configured to send a notification message to any one of the first player account and the second player account about the rewards in real-time, wherein the any one of the first player account and the second player account have account settings that identify a device to receive the notification message.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the social contact identifier integrator resides in any one of the wagering game network components selected from the set consisting of a wagering game server, community server, reward server, and the machine.

16. A machine-readable medium including, instructions executable by a machine, the instructions comprising:

instructions to present elements of a wagering game, wherein the wagering game is associated with a first player account;

instructions to select a second player account that is associated with the first player account; and

instructions to display, as part of the wagering game, a social contact identifier associated with the second player account, wherein the instructions to display include instructions to replace one of the elements of the wagering game with the social contact identifier.

17. A machine-readable medium of claim 16 further comprising:

instructions to determine a reward to be assigned to any one of the first player account and the second player account; and

instructions to assign the reward to any one of the first player account and the second player account.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions to assign the reward includes instructions to associate a third player account to the first account.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions to send a notification message about the reward to any one of the first player account and the second player account.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to replace one of the elements of the wagering game includes instructions to place the social contact identifier into the wagering game such that the placement of the social contact identifier affects the pay-out calculation of the wagering game.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions to display the social contact identifier includes instructions to insert the social contact identifier randomly into a game play display screen on a wagering game machine.