Live hosted online multiplayer game

• US 7,824,268 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2006
• Issued: 11/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Inventors: Harvey, Roy, Schaefer, Greg
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca; Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US11/613,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20080146342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,414 Days
• Field of Search: 463/9, 463/42
• US Class Current: 463/42
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/10 Control of the course of the game, e.g. start, progess, end
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/12 involving interaction between a plurality of game devices, e.g. transmisison or distribution systems protocols for networked virtual reality, networked games H04L29/06034
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/30 Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/352 involving special game server arrangements, e.g. regional servers connected to a national server or a plurality of servers managing partitions of the game world
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/45 Controlling the progress of the video game
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/57 details of game services offered to the player
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/572 Communication between players during game play of non game information, e.g. e-mail, chat, file transfer, streaming of audio and streaming of video

Abstract

A live-hosted multiplayer online gaming system includes a plurality of game clients, a game controller, and a live-operator input. The game controller includes logic to operate a live-hosted multiplayer online game, logic to couple the game controller to the plurality of game clients via a network, and logic to receive inputs from and to send outputs to the plurality of game clients. The live operator console further includes logic to couple the live operator input to the game server to enable communication between the live operator input and the game controller, logic to synchronize the live operator input to the current game state, and logic to send messages to the game controller that cause the game controller to create events that control at least in part the execution of the live hosted multiplayer online game.

Claims

1. A live-hosted multiplayer online gaming system comprising:

a plurality of game clients;

a network that provides for data communication to and from game clients;

a game controller, coupled to the network, comprising;

logic to operate a live hosted multiplayer online game;

logic to couple the game controller to at least some of the plurality of game clients via the network; and

logic to receive inputs from and to send outputs to the at least some of the plurality of game clients; and

a live operator console comprising;

logic to couple live operator input to the game server to enable communication between the live operator input and the game controller;

logic to synchronize the live operator input to a current game state maintained by the game controller, wherein the logic to synchronize the live operator input further comprises logic to receive audiovisual content generated by a live game host and to provide the audiovisual content to the game controller to be forwarded to the plurality of game clients, the audiovisual content provided by the live operator being synchronized with the current game state, wherein the audiovisual content provided by the live host includes live commentary from the live host regarding in-game events; and

logic to send messages to the game controller that cause the game controller to create events that control at least in part the execution of the live hosted multiplayer online game.

2. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein a first portion of the plurality of game clients are actively participating in the online multiplayer game and a second portion of the game clients are spectators viewing the online multiplayer game.

3. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the multiplayer online game is a game show format, a user of the live operator input acts as the host of the game show and users of some of the plurality of game clients are game show contestants and the users of a remainder of the plurality of the game show clients comprise a game show audience.

4. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, further comprising:

an offline administration console including logic for entering and maintaining a set of content to be utilized in the execution of the live-hosted multiplayer online game;

and logic to couple the offline administration console to the game controller to enable the game controller to access and utilize the set of content while operating the live-hosted multiplayer online game.

5. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein a message sent by the live operator input to the game controller comprises a request that the game controller publish content to the plurality of video game clients.

6. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 5, wherein the content comprises an image to be displayed on a user interface of each of the plurality of the video game clients.

7. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 5, wherein the content comprises a text message to be displayed on a user interface of each of the plurality of the video game clients.

8. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 5, wherein the content comprises a poll to be displayed on a user interface of each of the plurality of the video game clients;

and

wherein the game controller further comprises;

logic to receive a set of poll responses from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to create a summary of the set of poll responses from the plurality of the video game clients; and

logic to transmit the summary of the set of poll responses to the live host console.

9. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 5, wherein the content comprises a ticker message to be displayed on a ticker portion of a user interface of each of the plurality of the video game clients.

10. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to receive the summary of the set of poll responses and to display the summary of the set of poll responses on a user interface of the live host console.

11. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller further comprises:

logic to publish a raffle to the plurality of client devices;

logic to send a raffle details message to the live host console comprising a description of a raffle;

logic to receive a first set of raffle responses from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to determine a first set of raffle winners from the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients; and

logic to send the first set of raffle winners to the live host console.

12. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 11, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to receive the first set of raffle winners and to display the first set of raffle winners on a user interface of the live host console.

13. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 12, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to send a live host publish raffle results request to the game controller, wherein the publish raffle results request comprises a publish-raffle-results message including a set of raffle results to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of client devices; and

wherein the game controller further comprises;

logic to send a show-raffle-results message to the plurality of video game clients in response to the publish raffle results request, wherein the show-raffle-results message instructs the plurality of video game clients to display in a user interface the set of raffle results from the publish-raffle-results message.

14. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 11, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to display the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to receive a first set of raffle winners selected from the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to instruct the game controller to publish the first set of raffle winners.

15. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 14, wherein the logic to instruct the game controller to publish the first set of raffle winners further comprises:

logic to receive an audiovisual data stream announcing the winners of the raffle; and

logic to send the audiovisual data stream to the game controller to be displayed by the plurality of client devices.

16. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

logic to transmit a question to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of a video game clients;

logic to receive a set of responses from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to create a summary of the set of responses; and

logic to transmit the summary of the set of responses to the live host console.

17. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 16, wherein the live host console comprises logic to receive the summary of the set of responses and to display the summary of the set of responses on a user interface of the live host console.

18. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

logic to publish a celebrity stock market simulation, the logic comprising;

logic to receive from the plurality of client devices a set of requests to purchase shares of stock associated with a celebrity;

logic to receive from the plurality of client devices a set of requests to sell shares of stock associated with the celebrity;

logic to determine a per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity;

logic to sell shares of stock to the plurality of client devices in response to receiving a set of requests to purchase shares of stock associated with a celebrity; and

logic to buy shares of stock from the plurality of client devices in response to receiving a set of requests to sell shares of stock associated with a celebrity.

19. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 18, wherein the per-share value for shares of stock for the celebrity is determined from a number of times that the celebrity is mentioned in a set of key news outlets;

wherein the per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity decreases if the set of key news outlets mentions the celebrity less than a minimum threshold number of times within a specified time period; and

wherein the per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity increases if the set of key news outlets mentions the celebrity more than a maximum threshold number of times within the specified time period.

20. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

logic to receive a set of one or more live evaluations from the plurality of video game clients, wherein the live evaluations include feedback regarding the content of the live hosted multiplayer online game; and

logic to display the set of one or more live evaluations from the plurality of video game clients on the live host console.

21. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

logic to publish an invitation to join karaoke event to the plurality of video game clients;

logic to receive a request to join the karaoke event from a subset of the plurality video game clients in response to the invitation;

logic to receive a set of one or more requests to sing a song from the subset of video game clients who responded to the invitation;

logic to select a video game client associated with the one or more requests to sing a song;

logic to receive audio content from the selected video game client; and

logic to broadcast the audio content to the subset of video game clients.

22. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 21, wherein a first portion of the subset of video game clients who responded to the invitation participate in the karaoke event as judges and a second portion of the subset of video game clients participate in the karaoke event as an audience.

23. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 21, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to select a video game client associated with the one or more requests to sing a song.

24. The multiplayer networked gaming system of claim 1, wherein the game controller comprises:

logic to publish a fantasy sports game to the plurality of video game clients;

logic to receive a set of request to join the fantasy sports game from a subset of the plurality of video game clients;

logic to enroll the subset of the plurality of video game clients in the fantasy sports game that requested to join the fantasy sports game;

logic to receiving a set of player selections from each of the subset of the plurality of video game clients;

logic to determine a set of fantasy sports teams based upon the set of player selections received from the enrolled video game clients;

logic to determine performance statistics of each of the set of fantasy sports teams from statistics of real-world sports players; and

logic to publish the performance statistics of each of the set of fantasy sports teams to the subset of the plurality of video game clients.

25. A method for operating a live hosted multiplayer online game comprising:

registering a plurality of video game clients to participate in the live hosted multiplayer online game;

registering a live host console to provide a user interface for a live host to control and monitor the live hosted multiplayer online game;

publishing content to the plurality of video game clients, wherein publishing the content to the plurality of video game clients includes publishing a question to the plurality of video game clients and publishing audiovisual content generated by a live game host, the audiovisual content provided by the live operator being synchronized with the current game state, wherein the audiovisual content provided by the live host includes live commentary from the live host regarding in-game events;

receiving a set of responses from the plurality of video game clients;

creating a summary of the set of responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

sending the summary of the set of responses to the live host console;

receiving an event request from the live host console; and

transmitting a game content to the plurality of client video game clients in response to the event request.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-text request comprising a text message to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a show-text message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the text message identified in the publish-text request.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-video request comprising an identifier of a video content to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a show-video message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the video content identified in the publish-text request; and

wherein the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients further comprises;

streaming the video content identified in the publish-video request to the plurality of the game clients.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-image request comprising an identifier of a image to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a show-image message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the image identified in the publish-image request; and

wherein the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients further comprises;

communicating the image file identified in the publish-image request to the plurality of game clients.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-audio request comprising an identifier of an audio file to be played on of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a play-audio message instructing the plurality of video game clients to play the audio content identified in the publish-audio request; and

wherein the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients further comprises;

streaming the audio content identified in the publish-audio request to the plurality of the game clients.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-ticker request comprising a message to be displayed on a ticker portion of a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a ticker message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the message identified in the publish-ticker request.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-poll request comprising a poll to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a show-poll message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the poll identified in the publish-ticker request.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

receiving a set of poll responses from the plurality of video game clients;

creating a summary of the set of poll responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

sending the summary of the set of poll responses to the live host console;

receiving an publish poll results request from the live host console;

wherein the publish poll results request comprises a publish-poll-results-message comprising a set of poll results to be displayed; and

transmitting a show-poll-results message to the plurality of client video game clients in response to the event request, wherein the show-poll-results message instructs the plurality of video game clients to display the set of poll results from the publish-poll-results message.

33. The method of claim 25, wherein the event received in the step of receiving an event from the live host console is a publish-game-leaders request comprising a list of top players be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of video game clients;

and

wherein the game content transmitted in the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of video game clients comprises a show-game-leaders message instructing the plurality of video game clients to display the list of top players identified in the publish-game-leaders request.

34. The method of claim 25, wherein the request received in the step of receiving an event request from the live host console is a scheduled request;

and

wherein the step of transmitting a game content to the plurality of client video game clients in response to the event request is not performed until a time specified in the event request.

35. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

publishing a raffle to the plurality of video game clients;

sending a raffle details message to the live host console comprising a description of the raffle published to a plurality of video game clients;

receiving a first set of raffle responses from the plurality of video game clients;

determining a first set of raffle winners from the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients; and

sending the first set of the raffle winners to the live host console.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

receiving a publish raffle results request from the live host console, wherein the publish raffle results request comprises a publish-raffle-results message comprising a set of raffle results to be displayed on a user interface of the plurality of client devices; and

transmitting a show-raffle-results message to the plurality of video game clients in response to the publish raffle results, wherein the show-raffle-results message instructs the plurality of video game clients to display the set of raffle results from the publish-raffle-results message.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the live host console further comprises:

logic to display the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to receive a first set of raffle winners selected from the first set of raffle responses received from the plurality of video game clients;

logic to instruct the game controller to publish the first set of raffle winners.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the logic to instruct the game controller to publish the first set of raffle winners further comprises:

logic to receive an audiovisual data stream announcing the winners of the; and

logic to send the audiovisual data stream to the game controller to be displayed by the plurality of client devices.

39. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

publishing a celebrity stock market simulation, the step of publishing the stock market simulation comprising;

receiving from the plurality of client devices a set of requests to purchase shares of stock associated with a celebrity;

receiving from the plurality of client devices a set of requests to sell shares of stock associated with the celebrity;

determining a per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity;

selling shares of stock to the plurality of client devices in response to receiving the set of requests to purchase shares of stock associated with a celebrity; and

buying shares of stock from the plurality of client devices in response to receiving the set of requests to sell shares of stock associated with a celebrity.

40. The method of claim 25, wherein the per-share value for shares of stock for the celebrity is determined from a number of times that the celebrity is mentioned in a set of key news outlets;

wherein the per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity decreases if the set of key news outlets mentions the celebrity less than a minimum threshold number of times within a specified time period; and

wherein the per-share value for the shares of stock for the celebrity increases if the set of key news outlets mentions the celebrity more than a maximum threshold number of times within the specified time period.

41. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

receiving a set of one or more live evaluations from the plurality of video game clients, wherein the live evaluations include feedback regarding the content of the live hosted multiplayer online game; and

displaying the set of one or more live evaluations from the plurality of video game clients on the live host console.

42. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

publishing an invitation to join karaoke event to the plurality of video game clients;

receiving a request to join the karaoke event from a subset of the plurality video game clients in response to the invitation;

receiving a set of one or more requests to sing a song from the subset of video game clients who responded to the invitation;

selecting a video game client associated with the one or more requests to sing a song;

receiving audio content from the selected video game client; and

broadcasting the audio content to the subset of video game clients.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein a first portion of the subset of video game clients participate in the karaoke event as judges and a second portion of the subset of video game clients participate in the karaoke event as an audience.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the selecting a video game client associated with the one or more requests to sing a song is selected from the live-host console.

45. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

publishing a fantasy sports game to the plurality of video game clients;

receiving a set of request to join the fantasy sports game from a subset of the plurality of video game clients;

enrolling the subset of the plurality of video game clients in the fantasy sports game in response to receiving the set of requests to join the fantasy sports game;

receiving a set of player selections from each of the subset of the plurality of video game clients after enrolling the subset of the plurality of video game clients;

determining a set of fantasy sports teams based upon the set of player selections received from the enrolled video game clients after receiving the set of player selections;

determining performance statistics of each of the set of fantasy sports teams from statistics of real-world sports players; and

publishing the performance statistics of each of the set of fantasy sports teams to the subset of the plurality of video game clients.