Over the past few months, we have covered PS5 and Sony’s PlayStation AI many times. RespawnFirst uncovered many patents that revealed an AI assistant that pulls user-generated content with voice and text commands, the AI would also offer in-game help whenever a player is stuck somewhere, and has other undisclosed features.
Today, some new information has come to light that might possibly be used to sell microtransaction to the player through the PS5’s PlayStation AI. Sony has filed a patent for an AI that tries to sell DLC to the players in order to guide them. So for example, if you are stuck somewhere and don’t know how to proceed, the game may offer a DLC that might be helpful in that situation. It is hard to imagine how this would be helpful to the player but well, Sony does indeed have a patent around this system now. The AI will gather your gameplay data as well as data from other players in the same situation to suggest the most relevant microtransaction.
Often, there may be an in-game resource of the game environment that could aid the user in accomplishing the objective with the character. The in-game resource may be downloadable content (DLC), add-ons, upgrades, items, tips, strategy, communal data, etc. However, the user is not necessarily aware that such a resource exists.
PS5 is releasing later this year and if this AI system is actually implemented, it might not sit well with the community. It is borderline in-game advertising in the game of “help.” Offering DLC in the menu via in-game stores is a very common practice is video games but to sell DLC in the middle gameplay and call it “help” is a bit much. Still, like with many other patents, this too might not come to pass. Major companies file a ton of patents all year and not even half of them see actual implementation.
I can see how an AI like this can help games like Assassin’s Creed generated more revenue. Odyssey and Origins both sell you XP boosters, and time savers, instant skill unlock, and any game that has such items can really benefit from this PlayStation AI feature. It could result in the developer intentionally making certain sections grindy in order to sell in-game items.
We’ll see how this goes but so far the AI doesn’t look good and shouldn’t be a thing on PS5.