Parental controls of gameplay sessions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11724199-B2
Application number	US-202117403269-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2021
Priority date	Aug 16, 2021
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

Systems and methods for monitoring gameplay for stopping points and applying a setting preference at a next predicted timing point. The monitored gameplay may be based on object data received from an object server. The supervising control server may predict one or more starting and/or stopping timing points in stopping periods within a gameplay session. The predicting of the one or more starting and/or stopping timing points may be based on a comparison of the gameplay data to historical gameplay data. Then, a setting preference set by a supervisory account may be applied to a next predicted timing point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for applying controls on monitored gameplay, the method comprising:
storing information in memory regarding a supervisory user account associated with one or more player accounts, the stored information including a setting preference;
tracking data regarding historical gameplay of an interactive content title by an identified one of the player accounts during one or more gameplay sessions, the historical gameplay data received from a user device associated with the identified player account over a communication network;
analyzing the historical gameplay data associated with the identified player account during past gameplay sessions, wherein a subset of the historical gameplay data indicates a gameplay pattern associated with one or more imminent in-game events within the past gameplay sessions;
predicting one or more timing points corresponding to at least one of the imminent in-game events within a duration of a current gameplay session, wherein predicting the timing points is based on a comparison of gameplay data associated with the current gameplay session to the gameplay pattern indicated by the subset of the historical gameplay data; and
applying the setting preference at one of the predicted timing points in the current gameplay session, wherein applying the setting preference includes executing a control action associated with the setting preference.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising recording the historical gameplay data regarding one or more user accounts, wherein the historical gameplay data include one or more pauses during respective gameplay sessions of the interactive content title and one or more timestamps for each of the pauses.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
recording one or more segments of gameplay media for the current gameplay session of the identified player account based on the timestamps; and
providing one or more of the segments to a user device associated with the supervisory user account.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a query from the supervisory user account regarding the current gameplay session; and
sending a predicted end time for the current gameplay session to the supervisory user account, wherein the predicted end time is based on a next predicted timing point.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a message from the supervisory user account; and
generating a display of the message as an overlay notification within a display device of the identified user, wherein the overlay notification is displayed without pausing the current gameplay session.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting preference specifies a time limit for the current gameplay session, and further comprising:
tracking a duration of time of the current gameplay session; and
generating an overlay notification within a display device of the identified user, the overlay notification including a comparison of the specified time limit and the tracked duration of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the setting preference is associated with a predetermined expiration time period.

8. A system for applying controls on monitored gameplay, the system comprising:
memory that stores information regarding a supervisory user account associated with one or more player accounts, the stored information including a setting preference;
a communication interface that communicates over a communication network to track data regarding historical gameplay of an interactive content title by an identified one of the player accounts during one or more gameplay sessions, the historical gameplay data received from a user device associated with the identified player account over the communication network; and
a processor that executes instructions stored in the memory, wherein the processor executes the instructions to:
analyze the historical gameplay data associated with the identified player account during past gameplay sessions, wherein a subset of the historical gameplay data indicates a gameplay pattern associated with one or more imminent in-game events within the past gameplay sessions;
predict one or more timing points corresponding to at least one of the imminent in-game events within a duration of a current gameplay session, wherein predicting the timing points is based on a comparison of gameplay data associated with the current gameplay session to the gameplay pattern indicated by subset of the historical gameplay data; and
apply the setting preference at one of the predicted timing points in the current gameplay session, wherein applying the setting preference includes executing a control action associated with the setting preference.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to record the historical gameplay data regarding one or more user accounts, wherein the historical gameplay data include one or more pauses during respective gameplay sessions of the interactive content title and one or more timestamps for each of the pauses.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to record one or more segments of gameplay media for the current gameplay session of the identified player account based on the timestamps, and wherein the communication interface further provides one or more of the segments to the user device associated with the supervisory user account.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the communication interface further:
receives a query from the supervisory user account regarding the current gameplay session; and
sends a predicted end time for the current gameplay session to the supervisory user account, wherein the predicted end time is based on a next predicted timing point.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the communication interface further receives a message from the supervisory user account; and wherein processor executes further instructions to generate a display of the message as an overlay notification provided within a display device of the identified user, wherein the overlay notification is displayed without pausing the current gameplay session.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the setting preference specifies a time limit for the current gameplay session, and processor executes further instructions to:
track a duration of time of the current gameplay session; and
generate an overlay notification provided within a display device of the identified user, the overlay notification including a comparison of the specified time limit and the tracked duration of time.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the setting preference is associated with a predetermined expiration time period.

15. A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon instructions executable by a computing system to perform a method for applying controls on monitored gameplay, the method comprising:
storing information in memory regarding a supervisory user account associated with one or more player accounts, the stored information including a setting preference;
tracking data regarding historical gameplay of an interactive content title by an identified one of the player accounts during one or more gameplay sessions, the historical gameplay data received from a user device associated with the identified player account over a communication network;
analyzing the historical gameplay data associated with the identified player account during past gameplay sessions, wherein a subset of the historical gameplay data indicates a gameplay pattern associated with one or more imminent in-game events within the past

Assignees

• Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC

Inventors

• Fortuna Ellana
• Thompson Erikka
• Karp Sarah

Classifications

• A63F13/79 Primary

  involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories · CPC title

• A63F13/49

  Saving the game status; Pausing or ending the game · CPC title

• A63F13/533

  for prompting the player, e.g. by displaying a game menu · CPC title

• A63F2300/5546

  using player registration data, e.g. identification, account, preferences, game history · CPC title

• A63F2300/638

  according to the timing of operation or a time limit · CPC title