Systems and methods for crowd-sourced game strategy

• US 9,616,345 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2014
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Electronic Arts Incorporated
• Inventors: Harvey, Roy, Hyder, Robert Lee, White, Mathew Daniel, Cossairt, Jacob Landis
• Primary Examiner(s): Rowland, Steve
• Application Number:
  US14/321,603
• Publication Number:
  US 20160001183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/67 adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/798 for assessing skills or for ranking players, e.g. for generating a hall of fame computing the game score A63F13/46
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/816 Athletics, e.g. track-and-field sports
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/822 Strategy games; Role-playing games A63F13/825, A63F13/828 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/837 Shooting of targets

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems and methods that collect data regarding game strategy decisions by human players during video game, and utilize the collected data to either adjust or replace behaviors of computer players and/or suggest game strategies to human players during video game sessions. The game strategy decisions may be harvested from human-vs-human and human-vs-computer video game sessions. The data may be harvested from online-connected video game sessions, which may be hosted over an online video game network. Depending on the embodiment, the harvested data can include information regarding game strategies used by players during the video game sessions, the game contexts in which the game strategies were respectively used, and the results achieved by the respective use of the game strategies. Systems and methods described herein may facilitate a computer player having behavior that is (at least partially) “crowd-sourced” based on game strategies used by online-connected video game sessions.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

as implemented by a processor configured with computer-executable instructions,

receiving first data from a first client device, the first data regarding a first game strategy used, by a first game player, in a first game context of a first video game session between the first game player and at least a second game player, the first video game session executing within a video game, the first game strategy being a playcall;

updating a game strategy dataset based on the first data, the first data at least including an identity of the first game strategy and an association between the first game context and the first game strategy, the game strategy dataset including a set of one or more previous playcalls used in a set of one or more previous game contexts;

receiving gameplay data from a second client device during a second gameplay session, the gameplay data identifying a second game context of the second video game session, the second video game session being between a third player and a fourth player;

identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies based, at least in part, on the second game context during the second video game session, wherein individual game strategies are playcalls available for use within the second video game session; and

transmitting to the second client device second data regarding the set of one or more relevant game strategies, the second client device being configured to use the second data to identify at least one suggested game strategy of the set of one or more relevant game strategies for use in the second game context of the second video game session, and generate instructions to output the at least one suggested game strategy within a video game user interface during the second video game session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data further includes a set of one or more game results achieved during the first video game session based on use of the first game strategy.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising analyzing game strategies in the game strategy dataset, the identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies being further based on analysis results from the analyzing.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one suggested game strategy is output to a video game user interface associated with the third game player for use in the second game context.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one suggested game strategy is provided to the third game player, wherein the third game player is a computer game player.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the third game player automatically uses in the second game context at least one game strategy from the set of one or more suggested game strategies.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the third game player is a human video game player.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second client device providing the set of one or more relevant game strategies for use in the second video game session comprises suggesting at least one game strategy, in the set of one or more suggested game strategies, to the third game player as an available game strategy for use in the second game context.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of one or more suggested game strategies are those game strategies, in the set of one or more relevant game strategies, having an associated game context that is at least similar to the second game context.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first game context comprises a first skill level of the first game player or a second skill level of the second game player.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the video game is a sports video game and the first game context comprises a state of the sports game at a specific time.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the video game is a football video game and the first game context comprises a current offensive team, a current defensive team, a current score, a current game quarter, time left in the current game quarter, a current down, current yards to completion, current line of scrimmage, one or more players on the field, current position of one or more players, current weather, current location, or current time of day.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the video game is a football video game, and the first game strategy being a football-related playcall.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the video game is a role-playing game (RPG), a real-time strategy (RTS) game, a simulation, a first person shooter (FPS) game, or an adventure game.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies is further based, at least in part, on a result achieved during past use of a given game strategy.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies is further based, at least in part, on an effectiveness of a given game strategy.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies is further based, at least in part, on past use by a set of one or more video game players.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies is further based, at least in part, on when or how often a given game strategy was used.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the first game player is at the first client device, the second game player is at a different client device, and the first video game session is established over a network connection between the first client device and the different client device.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the third game player is at the second client device, the fourth game player is at a different client device, and the second video game session is established over a network connection between the second client device and the different client device.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the second data at least includes a set of one or more identities of the relevant game strategies and a set of one or more game contexts associated with the relevant game strategies.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the first video game session or the second video game session is hosted over an online video game network.

23. A system comprising:

a processor configured with computer executable instructions to execute functional modules, the modules comprising;

a game strategy aggregator module configured to receive first data from a first client device, the first data regarding a first game strategy used, by a first game player, in a first game context of a first video game session between the first game player and a second game player, the first video game session involving a video game;

a game strategy management module configured to update a game strategy dataset based on the first data, the first data at least including an identity of the first game strategy and an association between the first game context and the first game strategy, the first game strategy being a playcall, the game strategy dataset including a set of one or more previous playcalls used in a set of one or more previous game contexts;

a communication module configured to receive gameplay data from a second client device identifying a second game context of a second video game session, the second video game session being between a third player and a fourth player;

a game strategy analysis module configured to identify in the game strategy dataset a set of one or more relevant game strategies based, at least in part, on the second game context during the second video game session, wherein individual game strategies are playcalls available for use within the second video game session; and

a game strategy service module configured to provide a second client device with second data regarding the set of one or more relevant game strategies, the second client device being configured to use the second data identify at least one suggested game strategy of the set of one or more relevant game strategies for use in the second game context of the second video game session, and generate instructions to output the at least one suggested game strategy within a video game user interface during the second video game session.

24. A method comprising:

as implemented by a client computing system comprising a processor configured with computer executable instructions executing a video game application,

receiving, from a server, first data regarding a set of one or more relevant game strategies identified in a game strategy dataset based on a set of one or more game strategy criteria, the game strategy dataset including a set of one or more previous game strategies used in a set of one or more previous game contexts, the set of one or more relevant game strategies being associated with the video game application, the set of one or more relevant game strategies being identified based on the set of one or more game strategy criteria;

receiving gameplay data identifying a current game context of a current video game session;

identifying a set of one or more suggested game strategies, in the set of one or more relevant game strategies, based, at least in part, on the first data and on the current game context of the current video game session between a first game player and at least a second game player, wherein individual game strategies are playcalls available for use within the current video game session;

generating instructions to output the set of one or more suggested game strategies within a video game user interface;

receiving a user selection of a game strategy from the set of one or more suggested game strategies; and

generating instructions to implement the user-selected game strategy within the video game session.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising providing the set of one or more suggested game strategies for use by the first game player in the current game context, the first game player being a human game player.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising providing the set of one or more suggested game strategies for use by the first game player in the current game context, the first game player being a computer game player, the third game player automatically using at least one game strategy from the set of one or more suggested game strategies.