System and method of revealing real world wager outcomes based on user interactions with interactive media

• US 9,767,651 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2016
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Game Play Network, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Game Play Network, Inc.
• Inventors: Fine, Russell M., Marshall, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Allen
• Application Number:
  US15/080,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20160275753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• Field of Search: 463 16
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/00 Video games, i.e. games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions gaming systems which provide a financial reward G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3209 Input means, e.g. buttons, touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3211 Display means
• 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 17/3227 Configuring a gaming machine, e.g. downloading personal settings, selecting working parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• 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 17/326 Game play aspects of gaming systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3262 Player actions which determine the course of the game, e.g. selecting a prize to be won, outcome to be achieved, game to be played
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3288 Betting, e.g. on live events, bookmaking

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods of selecting and placing real-world wagers responsive to one or more wager triggers, obtaining outcomes of the real-world wagers, facilitating user interactions with various interactive media, and revealing the outcomes of the real-world wagers through the interactive media to give an appearance that the outcomes of the real-world wagers resulted from the user interactions even though the outcomes resulted from the real-world wagers and were determined before the user interactions. By integrating real-world wager outcomes with gameplay and other user interactions, the system may provide an engaging user experience with interactive media. For example, a game may reveal an outcome of a real-world wager (which has already occurred), in response to in-game actions such as user actions in the game, other players'"'"' actions in the game, game events (e.g., events caused by the game logic/artificial intelligence), and/or other events.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of timing reveals of portions of outcomes of wagers stored in a user account balance associated with a user, the method being implemented in a computer system having one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the computer system to perform the method, the method comprising:

obtaining, by the computer system, an outcome of a wager associated with a user;

updating, by the computer system, a user account balance based on the outcome;

obtaining, by the computer system, one or more reveal parameters that specify a timing related to a reveal of at least a portion of the user account balance; and

causing, by the computer system, the portion of the user account balance to be revealed via an interactive media application based on the one or more reveal parameters.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive media application comprises a game having an objective and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise a requirement to complete the objective within a specified time, and wherein causing the portion of the user account balance to be revealed comprises:

determining, by the computer system, whether the objective has been completed within the specified time, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the objective has been completed within the specified time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive media application is configured to provide media content and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise a requirement to view the media content for a specified duration, and wherein causing the portion of the user account balance to be revealed comprises:

obtaining, by the computer system, a length of time that the media content has been viewed; and

determining, by the computer system, whether the length of time meets or exceeds the specified duration, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the length of time meets or exceeds the specified duration.

4. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

obtaining, by the computer system, one or more wager parameters that specify information used to place the wager; and

causing, by the computer system, the wager to be placed on behalf of the user through a real currency wagering system based on the one or more wager parameters, wherein the one or more wager parameters comprise an indication of a type of wager event in which to place the real-world wager, a particular wager event in which to place the real-world wager, a particular outcome that is wagered upon, an amount of the real-world wager, a number of real-world wagers to place, and/or a risk level of the real-world wager.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise an indication of a when a reveal may occur, an identification of interactive media to make the reveal, an amount of the reveal, a number of reveals to make, a geo-location associated with the reveal, and/or a promotion associated with the reveal.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, that a user has completed an objective in relation to the user interaction with the interactive media, wherein the portion of the user account balance is revealed responsive to the completed objective to give the user the impression that the user won the portion of the user account balance based on the completed objective.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, the portion of the user account balance to reveal to the user based on the one or more reveal parameters, wherein the portion includes some or all of the outcome.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

identifying, by the computer system, the interactive media application used to reveal the portion of the user account balance based on the one or more reveal parameters.

9. The method of claim 8, the method further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, the portion of the user account balance to reveal to the user based on the identified interactive media application such that the portion of the user account balance to reveal is customized based on the identified interactive media application.

10. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system, back from the interactive media application, an indication that the portion of the user account balance has been revealed to the user; and

updating, by the computer system, the user account balance based on the indication that the portion of the user account balance has been revealed to the user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the user account balance based on the outcome comprises:

incrementing, by the computer system, the user account balance based on a payout of the outcome.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein updating the user account balance based on the indication that the portion of the user account balance has been revealed to the user comprises:

decrementing, by the computer system, the user account balance based on the amount revealed to the user.

13. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

obtaining, by the computer system, location information from a user device associated with the user;

determining, by the computer system, a location of the user based on the location information; and

causing, by the computer system, the wager to be placed on behalf of the user through a real currency wagering system based on the location of the user.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the user account balance is revealed to the user in response to a user input with a physical input associated with the user interaction with the interactive media application to give the appearance that the user won the revealed portion based on the user interaction.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the wager is placed through a third-party wagering system via a network.

16. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

causing, by the computer system, a reveal specification to be transmitted, via a network, to a user device that executes the interactive media application, wherein the reveal specification comprises the one or more reveal parameters.

17. The method of claim 16, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the computer system, from the interactive media application, a request for the reveal specification via an application programming interface (API), wherein the reveal specification is transmitted responsive to the request.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the reveal specification is cached at the user device and causes the portion of the user account balance to be revealed by the user device whether or not the user device is offline.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the interactive media application comprises a game and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise a requirement to play the game for a specified period of time, and wherein causing the portion of the user account balance to be revealed comprises:

determining, by the computer system, whether the game has been played for the specified period of time, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the game has been played for the specified period of time.

20. A system of timing reveals of portions of outcomes of wagers stored in a user account balance associated with a user, the system comprising:

a computer system comprising one or more physical processors programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the computer system to;

obtain an outcome of a wager associated with a user;

update a user account balance based on the outcome;

obtain one or more reveal parameters that specify a timing related to a reveal of at least a portion of the user account balance; and

cause the portion of the user account balance to be revealed via an interactive media application based on the one or more reveal parameters.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the interactive media application comprises a game having an objective and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprises a requirement to complete the objective within a specified time, and wherein to cause the portion of the user account balance to be revealed, the computer system is further programmed to:

determine whether the objective has been completed within the specified time, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the objective has been completed within the specified time.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the interactive media application is configured to provide media content and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise a requirement to view the media content for a specified duration, and wherein to cause the portion of the user account balance to be revealed, the computer system is further programmed to:

obtain a length of time that the media content has been viewed; and

determine whether the length of time meets or exceeds the specified duration, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the length of time meets or exceeds the specified duration.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

obtain one or more wager parameters that specify information used to place the wager; and

cause the wager to be placed on behalf of the user through a real currency wagering system based on the one or more wager parameters, wherein the one or more wager parameters comprises an indication of a type of wager event in which to place the real-world wager, a particular wager event in which to place the real-world wager, a particular outcome that is wagered upon, an amount of the real-world wager, a number of real-world wagers to place, and/or a risk level of the real-world wager.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise an indication of a when a reveal may occur, an identification of interactive media to make the reveal, an amount of the reveal, a number of reveals to make, a geo-location associated with the reveal, and/or a promotion associated with the reveal.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

determine that a user has completed an objective in relation to the user interaction with the interactive media, wherein the portion of the user account balance is revealed responsive to the completed objective to give the user the impression that the user won the portion of the user account balance based on the completed objective.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

determine the portion of the user account balance to reveal to the user based on the one or more reveal parameters, wherein the portion includes some or all of the outcome.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

identify the interactive media application used to reveal the portion of the user account balance based on the one or more reveal parameters.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

determine the portion of the user account balance to reveal to the user based on the identified interactive media application such that the portion of the user account balance to reveal is customized based on the identified interactive media application.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

receive, back from the interactive media application, an indication that the portion of the user account balance has been revealed to the user; and

update the user account balance based on the indication that the portion of the outcome user account balance has been revealed to the user.

30. The system of claim 20, wherein to update the user account balance based on the outcome, the computer system is further programmed to:

increment the user account balance based on a payout of the outcome.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein to update the user account balance based on the indication that the portion of the user account balance has been revealed to the user, the computer system is further programmed to:

decrement the user account balance based on the amount revealed to the user.

32. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

obtain location information from a user device associated with the user;

determine a location of the user based on the location information; and

cause the wager to be placed on behalf of the user through a real currency wagering system based on the location of the user.

33. The system of claim 20, wherein the portion of the user account balance is revealed to the user in response to a user input with a physical input associated with the user interaction with the interactive media application to give the appearance that the user won the revealed portion based on the user interaction.

34. The system of claim 20, wherein the wager is placed through a third-party wagering system via a network.

35. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

cause a reveal specification to be transmitted, via a network, to a user device that executes the interactive media application, wherein the reveal specification comprises the one or more reveal parameters.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the computer system is further programmed to:

receive from the interactive media application a request for the reveal specification via an application programming interface (API), wherein the reveal specification is transmitted responsive to the request.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the reveal specification is cached at the user device and causes the portion of the user account balance to be revealed by the user device whether or not the user device is offline.

38. The system of claim 20, wherein the interactive media application comprises a game and the one or more reveal parameters that specify the timing comprise a requirement to play the game for a specified period of time, and wherein to cause the portion of the user account balance to be revealed, the computer system is further programmed to:

determine whether the game has been played for the specified period of time, wherein the portion of the user account balance is caused to be revealed based on a determination that the game has been played for the specified period of time.