Dynamically providing guest passes for a video game

• US 8,702,518 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2007
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valve Corporation
• Original Assignee: Valve Corporation
• Inventors: Birum, Derrick Jason, Cook, John, Johnson, Erik Axel, Coomer, Gregory, McCaskey, John A. IV
• Primary Examiner(s): Rowland, Steve
• Application Number:
  US11/690,770
• Publication Number:
  US 20080234043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,587 Days
• Field of Search: 463 16- 20, 463/25, 463/42, 705/5, 705/14
• US Class Current: 463/42
• 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 13/795 for finding other players; for building a team; for providing a buddy list
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5566 by matching opponents or finding partners to build a team, e.g. by skill level, geographical area, background, play style

Abstract

A system and method for determining and providing one or more guest passes for temporary access to one or more video games to a first player that was previously granted membership to a platform that offers access to playing these video games. One or more different determinations are made on information related to the first player and/or available video games to generate one or more guest passes for a video game that is at least somewhat relevant to the first player. In at least one embodiment, one or more of the different determinations can be intrinsically and/or extrinsically weighted to further refine the generation of a guest pass for a video games that is at least somewhat relevant to the first player, and thereby more likely to be offered by the first player to a second player. Also, the platform enables the determining and generating of the one or more guest passes to the one or more video games for the first player.

Claims

1. A method implemented on a processor for providing a guest pass for a video game, wherein the method is implemented by a hardware computing device that performs actions, comprising:

performing a plurality of separately weightable determinations to generate at least one guest pass to the video game to be generated for and provided to a first player that is a member of a platform, wherein at least a portion of the determinations include a determination of a frequency of play of video games selected for play by the first player combined with a determination of video games selected for play by contacts of the first player;

providing the first player with at least one opportunity to offer the guest pass to a second player;

enabling the first player to both use the guest pass to obtain temporary access to the video game and choose to send the guest pass to the second player that is a member of the platform; and

enabling both the first player and the second player to employ the guest pass to obtain a separately provided license that enables both players to install the video game and temporarily access and play the video game together.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the opportunity to offer the guest pass further comprises:

enabling the first player to make a request of the platform to send an invitation message for the guest pass on behalf of the first player to the second player, wherein the invitation message is at least in part automatically generated by the platform; and

enabling the first player to provide at least some portion of the content of the invitation message to the guest pass.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:

separately weighting at least one result for at least one of the plurality of determinations;

or

separately providing at least one weight for at least one of the plurality of determinations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the guest pass indicates at least one condition for providing the second player with access to the video game, including:

a period of time when the guest pass is available for offering to the second player, a type of player that is compatible with the guest pass, a percentage of access to be provided to the video game, a number of times that the guest pass makes the video game accessible to the second player, amount of time that the video game is available for access by the second player once the guest pass is offered to the second player.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the guest pass is offered to the second player is employed to obtain the license for the second player to access the video game, and wherein the provided guest pass is arranged to uniquely correspond to the second player as a member of the platform.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of determinations include determining at least one of:

player type;

membership type;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by the first player;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by contacts of the first player;

other available video games that are related to the title, and genre of those video games previously accessed by the first player;

other available video games that are associated with at least one marketing promotion;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes previously provided to the first player;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes previously provided to the contacts of the first player;

or

feedback of first player regarding previously provided guest passes.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the platform to directly offer at least one guest pass to play the video game to at least one of the first player or the second player.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an acknowledgement to the first player for causing the offering of the guest pass to the second player, wherein the acknowledgement is at least one of a credit or a posting.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling at least one of the players to opt in to a posting of available guest passes provided to a particular player.

10. An apparatus for enabling a guest pass for a video game, comprising:

a memory for storing data; and

a processor for employing the stored data to perform actions, comprising;

performing a plurality of separately weightable determinations to generate at least one guest pass to the video game to be generated for and provided to a first player that is a member of a platform, wherein at least a portion of the determinations include a determination of a frequency of play of video games selected for play by the first player combined with a determination of video games selected for play by contacts of the first player;

providing the first player with at least one opportunity to offer the guest pass to a second player;

enabling the first player to both use the guest pass to obtain temporary access to the video game and choose to send the guest pass to the second player that is a member of the platform; and

enabling both the first player and the second player to employ the guest pass to obtain a separately provided license that enables both players to install the video game and temporarily access and play the video game together.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the platform enables the second player to temporarily access and play the video game on at least one computing device, including at least one of:

a personal computer, a consumer video game console, a arcade video game console, a mobile telephone, a smart watch, a handheld video game console, or a personal digital assistants (PDA).

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the platform enables the second player to temporarily access and play the video game in an environment, that can include at least one of a peer to peer architecture, a client-server architecture, a remote application, a web based service, or a local application.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the opportunity to offer the guest pass further comprises:

enabling the first player to make a request of the platform to send an invitation message for the guest pass on behalf of the first player to the second player, wherein the invitation message is at least in part automatically generated by the platform; and

enabling the first player to provide at least some portion of the content of the invitation message to the guest pass.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the actions further comprise:

separately weighting at least one result for at least one of the plurality of determinations;

or

separately providing at least one weight for at least one of the plurality of determinations.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the guest pass indicates at least one condition for providing the second player with access to the video game, including:

a period of time when the guest pass is available for offering to the second player, a type of player that is compatible with the guest pass, a percentage of access to be provided to the video game, a number of times that the guest pass makes the video game accessible to the second player, amount of time that the video game is available for access by the second player once the guest pass is offered to the second player.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the guest pass is offered to the second player is employed to obtain a particular license for the second player to access the video game, and wherein the provided guest pass is arranged to uniquely correspond to the second player as a member of the platform.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the plurality of determinations include determining at least one of:

player type;

membership type;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by the first player;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by contacts of the first player;

other available video games that are related to the title, and genre of those video games previously accessed by the first player;

other available video games that are associated with at least one marketing promotion;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes provided to the first player;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes previously provided to the contacts of the first player;

or

feedback of first player regarding previously provided guest passes.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the actions further comprise enabling the platform to directly offer at least one guest pass to play the video game to at least one of the first player or the second player.

19. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the actions further comprise providing an acknowledgement to the first player for causing the offering of the guest pass to the second player, wherein the acknowledgement is at least one of a credit or a posting.

20. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the actions further comprise enabling at least one of the players to opt in to a posting of available guest passes provided to a particular player.

21. A non-transitory processor readable media that includes data for performing actions that enable a guest pass for a video game, comprising:

performing a plurality of separately weightable determinations to generate at least one guest pass to the video game to be generated for and provided to a first player that is a member of a platform, wherein at least a portion of the determinations include a determination of a frequency of play of video games selected for play by the first player combined with a determination of video games selected for play by contacts of the first player;

providing the first player with at least one opportunity to offer the guest pass to a second player;

enabling the first player to both use the guest pass to obtain temporary access to the video game and choose to send the guest pass to the second player that is a member of the platform; and

enabling both the first player and the second player to employ the guest pass to obtain a separately provided license that enables both players to install the video game and temporarily access and play the video game together.

22. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the opportunity to offer the guest pass further comprises other actions, including:

enabling the first player to make a request of the platform to send an invitation message for the guest pass on behalf of the first player to the second player, wherein the invitation message is at least in part automatically generated by the platform; and

enabling the first player to provide at least some portion of the content of the invitation message to the guest pass.

23. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the actions further comprise:

separately weighting at least one result for at least one of the plurality of determinations;

or

separately providing at least one weight for at least one of the plurality of determinations.

24. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the guest pass indicates at least one condition for providing the second player with access to the video game, including:

a period of time when the guest pass is available for offering to the second player, a type of player that is compatible with the guest pass, a percentage of access to be provided to the video game, a number of times that the guest pass makes the video game accessible to the second player, amount of time that the video game is available for access by the second player once the guest pass is offered to the second player.

25. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the guest pass is offered to the second player is employed to obtain a particular license for the second player to access the video game, and wherein the provided guest pass is arranged to uniquely correspond to the second player as a member of the platform.

26. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the plurality of determinations include determining at least one of:

player type;

membership type;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by the first player;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by contacts of the first player;

other available video games that are related to the title, and genre of those video games previously accessed by the first player;

other available video games that are associated with at least one marketing promotion;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes provided to the first player;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes previously provided to the contacts of the first player;

or

feedback of first player regarding previously provided guest passes.

27. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the actions further comprise enabling the platform to directly offer at least one guest pass to play the video game to at least one of the first player or the second player.

28. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the actions further comprise providing an acknowledgement to the first player for causing the offering of the guest pass to the second player, wherein the acknowledgement is at least one of a credit or a posting.

29. The non-transitory processor readable media of claim 21, wherein the actions further comprise enabling at least one of the players to opt in to a posting of available guest passes provided to a particular player.

30. A system for enabling a guest pass for a video game, comprising:

a server for performing actions, including;

performing a plurality of separately weightable determinations to generate at least one guest pass to the video game to be generated for and provided to a first player that is a member of a platform, wherein at least a portion of the determinations include a determination of a frequency of play of video games selected for play by the first player combined with a determination of video games selected for play by contacts of the first player;

providing the first player with at least one opportunity to offer the guest pass to a second player; and

enabling both the first player and the second player as a member of the platform to employ the guest pass to obtain a separately provided license that enables both players to install the video game and temporarily access and play the video game together; and

a client that enables the first player to both use the guest pass to obtain temporary access to the video game and choose to send the guest pass to the second player that is the platform member.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the platform enables the second player to temporarily access and play the video game on at least one computing device, including at least one of:

a personal computer, a consumer video game console, a arcade video game console, a mobile telephone, a smart watch, a handheld video game console, or a personal digital assistants (PDA).

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the opportunity to offer the guest pass further comprises:

enabling the first player to make a request of the platform to send an invitation message for the guest pass on behalf of the first player to the second player, wherein the invitation message is at least in part automatically generated by the platform; and

enabling the first player to provide at least some portion of the content of the invitation message to the guest pass.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the actions further comprise separately weighting at least one result for at least one of the plurality of determinations, and separately providing at least one weight for at least one of the plurality of determinations.

34. The system of claim 30, wherein the guest pass indicates at least one condition for providing the second player with access to the video game, including:

a period of time when the guest pass is available for offering to the second player, a type of player that is compatible with the guest pass, a percentage of access to be provided to the video game, a number of times that the guest pass makes the video game accessible to the second player, amount of time that the video game is available for access by the second player once the guest pass is offered to the second player.

35. The system of claim 30, wherein the guest pass is offered to the second player is employed to obtain a particular license for the second player to access the video game, and wherein the provided guest pass is arranged to uniquely correspond to the second player as a member of the platform.

36. The system of claim 30, wherein the plurality of determinations include determining at least one of:

player type;

membership type;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by the first player;

title, genre, and frequency of play for video games accessed by contacts of the first player;

other available video games that are related to the title, and genre of those video games previously accessed by the first player;

other available video games that are associated with at least one marketing promotion;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes provided to the first player;

usage, conversion rate, and optimal time period of guest passes previously provided to the contacts of the first player;

or

feedback of first player regarding previously provided guest passes.

37. The system of claim 30, wherein the actions further comprise enabling the platform to directly offer at least one guest pass to play the video game to at least one of the first player or the second player.

38. The system of claim 30, wherein the actions further comprise providing an acknowledgement to the first player for causing the offering of the guest pass to the second player, wherein the acknowledgement is at least one of a credit or a posting.

39. The system of claim 30, wherein the actions further comprise enabling at least one of the players to opt in to a posting of available guest passes provided to a particular player.