Activision has been granted a patent this week that enables it to make use of matchmaking in video games to make spending cash on microtransactions extra attractive.
The patent was filed for in 2015 by a analysis and improvement staff at Activision. The writer was solely granted the patent on October 17, however the particulars are fairly revealing.
Uncovered by Glixel, the patent’s description reveals that a sport’s matchmaking system may be managed to make microtransactions-based gadgets extra interesting. For instance, it may possibly group gamers who’ve spent cash on highly effective weapons with others who didn’t, with a purpose to present the latter group what they’re lacking.
The course of is extra advanced than you may think, because it’s layered on high of different components matchmaking methods right now already take note of akin to ability stage, latency and so on.
The technique for influencing gamers is detailed within the submitting, and it will be spectacular if it weren’t extremely cynical. “In a particular example, the junior player may wish to become an expert sniper in a game (e.g., as determined from the player profile),” reads the outline.
“The microtransaction engine may match the junior player with a player that is a highly skilled sniper in the game. In this manner, the junior player may be encouraged to make game-related purchases such as a rifle or other item used by the marquee player.”
When that occurs, and the junior participant does fall for it, the system will take this into consideration when discovering a sport for them afterwards. The aim is to place them in a match the place their newly-bought weapon may be handiest, guaranteeing they see the worth of their buy within the hopes that they’d repeat it.
“For example, if the player purchased a particular weapon, the microtransaction engine may match the player in a gameplay session in which the particular weapon is highly effective, giving the player an impression that the particular weapon was a good purchase,” it goes on. “This may encourage the player to make future purchases to achieve similar gameplay results.”
As Glixel factors out, though these examples are all primarily based on FPS video games, the patent particulars verify that the system may be tailored into different video games. Activision has since informed the location that this tech shouldn’t be at present being utilized in any sport.
“This was an exploratory patent filed in 2015 by an R&D team working independently from our game studios,” Activision mentioned. “It has not been implemented in-game.” Destiny developer Bungie additionally clarified that it doesn’t use this technique.
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