The next generation of console gaming is coming in 2020 and Sony’s PlayStation 5 is without a doubt the most hyped gaming console since well, the PlayStation 4 released seven years ago. With Sony announcing that the PlayStation 5 will hit shelves during the holiday season, rumours about how the console will look like and what kind of new features it will bring are rife.
To add to what we already know about the PlayStation 5, Sony’s latest patent, which was published by the World Intellectual Property Organization gives us a glimpse of one of the new features that the PS5 will have. Sony have filed a patent for an “In-game resource surfacing platform”, which is basically an AI assistant, not unlike Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa for the upcoming console.
The plan is for the AI assistant to assist gamers whenever they find themselves stuck on a certain level or if they’re having trouble beating a particular boss by suggesting tips, tricks, upgrades and even DLCs
The patent reads:
“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.”
While the concept of an AI assistant in gaming isn’t exactly new (Google Stadia has something similar), it’s a first for the PlayStation. It’s worth noting though that patents like this are filed by companies all the time, and often don’t ever make it to consumers. This essentially means that we may not actually see it on the PS5. Given how popular AI technology is these days however, there’s a high chance that this one actually goes the distance.
As helpful as the feature is intended to be however, there are some that feel that this could lead us down a slippery slope of microstransactions being displayed more prominently via the AI assistant. With the world of gaming at odds with microtransactions for well, ever, surely Sony won’t go down this dark path, right?
That being said, even if they do, we’re pretty sure that Sony won’t pull a Samsung and make the AI assistant a compulsory thing here. At least we sure hope they don’t. We’ll just have to wait till the end of the year to see if this new AI assistant even makes it on the PS5, until then all we have is speculation.
