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Sony has published a patent for an AI that will automatically lower in-game difficulty if it detects PS5 players are struggling.
The patent (opens in new tab) (via SegmentNext (opens in new tab)), titled “Use of machine learning to increase or decrease level of difficulty in beating video game opponent,” was first published last week. The idea behind is that artificial intelligence would be able to analyse player data when fighting specific opponents “to identify successful and/or unsuccessful methods” used to defeat it, and then alter the difficulty of the fight based on the results.
For players struggling with a particular boss fight, for example, the AI might be a little more forgiving. For more skilled players, however, things would get more difficult, with bosses potentially learning “to circumvent a particular attack or attack pattern waged […] by the particular video game player.” Imagine, for example, a Demon’s Souls boss that learns how to avoid your finely-crafted cheese strat after a few cheap hits.
Sony hopes that its patent will do more than simply tweak a game’s difficulty on the fly, suggesting that the system could make its games more replayable as combat difficulty scales with the player. It could also be a good way to increase accessibility, tailoring gameplay around a player’s ability to push buttons or move joysticks.
Sony has only just published its patent, so even if it’s accepted, it could be many years until we start to see the results of the new system, but with the likes of Demon’s Souls and God of War: Ragnarok on the PS5’s roster, it could find a number of home’s across Sony’s upcoming slate of games.
Wondering how far the new tech could go? Here’s our list of upcoming PS5 games.
