Game browsing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10029181-B2
Application number	US-201615370894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 6, 2016
Priority date	Jul 20, 2012
Publication date	Jul 24, 2018
Grant date	Jul 24, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention allow players to instantly access and begin playing games through an online service. To make the games instantly available, an online service keeps instances of games running in active memory waiting for a player to be added. The game instances running in active memory are not attached to a player profile or an I/O channel from a game client. Once the player requests a game, the player's player profile is loaded into the running game instance and an I/O channel is mapped from the game client to the game instance. From the player's perspective, the preloaded game instances allow the player to browse directly from game to game with very little delay. To optimize the usage of server-side resources, historical usage data may be analyzed to anticipate demand for different games.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computing system comprising:
a processor; and
computer storage memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor, implement a method of browsing between game play of multiple games, the method comprising:
preloading a plurality of game instances for a video game to a running state within active memory on a game server, wherein the plurality of game instances run without player specific information or a connection to a game-control input and output channel, from which the game instance is playable on a game client, wherein a portion of the plurality of game instances are playable starting at a mid-game progress point within the video game.

2. The computing system of claim 1 , subsequent to said preloading, receiving, at the game server, a first request from the game client to play a first game; and connecting the game client to a playable part of a preloaded instance of the first game by adding player profile information to the preloaded instance of the first game, wherein the player profile information comprises player preferences and progress for the first game.

3. The computing system of claim 2 , wherein connecting further comprises adding an input and output channel for game controls to the preloaded instance of the first game.

4. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the mid-game progress point is a middle part of a level of a game.

5. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises outputting a game-browsing interface through which games within the plurality of games is selectable.

6. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises determining an anticipated demand for different starting points for the video games by analyzing historical game-play information and preloading multiple game instances to a running point at starting points that accommodate the anticipated demand.

7. The computing system of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a request from a game client to join a new game when a user of the game client is connected to a first game;
recording any progress made in the first game to a player profile associated with the user; and
connecting the game client to a playable part of a preloaded instance of the new game by adding player profile information for the user to the preloaded instance of the second game.

8. A method of instant on-game availability within a game service comprising:
preloading multiple game instances, which run without player specific information or a connection to a game-control input and output channel, to a running state in active memory, wherein a portion of the multiple game instances are playable starting at a mid-game progress point within the video game.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a preloaded game instance includes all game objects needed to play at least a portion of a game.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the multiple game instances are for multiple game titles and different amounts of game instances are preloaded based on anticipated demand for individual game titles.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the anticipated demand is calculated for each server farm providing the game service.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the player specific information includes a language package that specifies in which language game features are presented.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
subsequent to said preloading, receiving, a first request from a game client to play a first game; and
connecting the game client to a playable part of a first level within a preloaded instance of the first game.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a second request from the game client to play a second level of the first game; and
connecting the game client to a playable part of the second level within a different preloaded instance of the first game.

15. The method of claim 13 , subsequent to said connecting, receiving a request from the game client to purchase the first game and outputting the first game for download to the game client.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises determining an anticipated demand for a plurality of games by analyzing historical game-play information and selecting the multiple game instances based on the anticipated demand.

17. One or more computer-storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that when executed by a computing device perform a method of browsing between game play of multiple games, the method comprising:
outputting for display, from a game client, a game-browsing interface that allows a user of the game client to make a request to join one of a plurality of running instances of a first game instance running in active memory on a game server, wherein the first game instance is running at a mid-game progress point, wherein the first game instance is running without player specific information or a connection to a game-control input and output channel.

18. The media of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises:
communicating a first request to join the first game instance at the mid-game progress point; and
within two seconds of communicating the request, receiving rendered images of the first game at the mid-game progress point with a character that is immediately manipulated through commands communicated over an input and output channel between the game client and the game server.

19. The media of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:
while play is ongoing in the first game, receiving a second request to play a second game displayed on the game-browsing interface;
communicating, from the game client to a game server that maintains the running instances of the second game in active memory, the second request to surf into the second game; and
within two seconds of said communicating the second request, receiving rendered images from the second game with a character that is immediately manipulated through commands communicated over the input and output channel between the game client and the game server.

20. The media of claim 18 , where in the method further comprises:
while play is ongoing in the first game, receiving a second request to play a new level of the first game displayed on the game-browsing interface;
communicating, from the game client to a game server that maintains the running instances of the first game at the new level in active memory, the second request to surf into the new level of the first game; and
within two seconds of said communicating the second request, receiving rendered images from the new level of the first game with a character that is immediately manipulated through commands communicated over the input and output channel between the game client and the game server.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Justice John Raymond
• Kipman Alex Aben-Athar
• Lobb Kenneth Alan

Classifications

• A63F13/792

  for payment purposes, e.g. monthly subscriptions · CPC title

• A63F13/30

  Interconnection arrangements between game servers and game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game devices; Interconnection arrangements between game servers · CPC title

• A63F13/355 Primary

  Performing operations on behalf of clients with restricted processing capabilities, e.g. servers transform changing game scene into an encoded video stream for transmitting to a mobile phone or a thin client · CPC title

• A63F2300/554

  by saving game or status data · CPC title

• A63F13/73

  Authorising game programs or game devices, e.g. checking authenticity · CPC title