Activision has officially patented a pay 2 win matchmaking scheme

[timpa]

https://m.slashdot.org/story/332557

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-activision-uses-matchmaking-tricks-to-sell-in-game-items-w509288

 

 

 

Activision Researched Using Matchmaking Tricks to Sell In-Game Items

 

Activision was granted a patent this month for a system it uses to convince people in multiplayer games to purchase items for a game through microtransactions.

 

"This was an exploratory patent filed in 2015 by an R&D team working independently from our game studios," an Activision spokesperson tells Glixel. "It has not been implemented in-game."

 

Bungie also confirmed to Glixel that the technology isn't being used in Destiny 2.

 

The patent details how multiplayer matches are configured, specifically how players are selected to play with one another. That process used by Activision involves a computer looking at a wide variety of factors including skill level, Internet latency, availability of friends and other things. It then goes through a system to first soft-reserve a slot in a game for a player and then assign the players to the same match.

 

This patent, though, specifically discusses how that system for pairing up players can also be used to entice a player to purchase in-game items.

 

"For example, in one implementation, the system may include a microtransaction engine that arranges matches to influence game-related purchases," according to the patent. "For instance, the microtransaction engine may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player. A junior player may wish to emulate the marquee player by obtaining weapons or other items used by the marquee player."

 

 

The tl;dr version. Activision now has a patent on a matchmaking system which puts a whale(spendwhore buying lot of shit to be stronger) with a weaker player to try to "encourage" the weaker player to spend money.

 

So does this mean all these other matchmaking pay2win games now can be sued by Activision?

 

Secondly.. I recently returned to PC gaming and built a coffee lake system mainly because I have just been mobile gaming for years, but the pay2win got too much.

 

Well fuck me, PC games now going that way more and more.

[Hemlock]

i thought Glixel closed down?

 

And that's really fucked up if they're going to match you up with better players, whether through skill or p2w, just to try to get you to buy the p2w stuff yourself. I used to really be into COD but stopped playing after MW3. Was thinking about jumping back in with the new one but idk now. 

[Salieri]

With the way games especially online multilayer games are coming now. I don't even play any at all these days.

 

Pc has always been like that Dota, CSGO, LOL etc.

 

Only play single player games, if not I just resort to visual novels these days as my form of entertainment.