Virtual and location-based multiplayer gaming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9573064-B2
Application number	US-82251710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2010
Priority date	Jun 24, 2010
Publication date	Feb 21, 2017
Grant date	Feb 21, 2017

Abstract

A system and method combining real-world actions and virtual actions in a gaming environment. In one aspect, a massively multiplayer environment combines the real world actions and virtual actions of a participant to influence both character metrics and game play within one or more games provided by the service. In the real world or location-based events, game play occurs in and around links explicitly created between real world locations and virtual representations of those locations within the game.

First claim

We claim:

1. A computer implemented method of providing a game including a plurality of events comprising a story to a plurality of users, each user having one or more associated processing devices, comprising:
communicating first and second sets of real world location-based events, the first set of location-based events different from the second set of location-based events, contributing to user progress in the story to the plurality of users via the one or more associated processing devices, the processing devices configured to play in a virtual environment, each location based event in the first set of location-based events occurring at a location and comprising a user interaction with a real world object at the location during the game and the second set of location-based events occurring at the location and comprising the user interaction with a virtual world object in the virtual environment of the game;
communicating a set of virtual based events, different from the first and second sets of real world location-based events, contributing to user progress in the story to the plurality of users via the one or more associated processing devices, the virtual event comprising a user interaction with a virtual world object in the virtual environment of the game;
receiving, as input at the one or more associated processing devices, user participation based on location and interaction with the real world object at the location in at least one location-based event in at least one of the first and second sets of location-based events and receiving user participation in at least one virtual event;
tracking user progress in the story upon successful completion of each of the events, the tracking of the virtual events based upon completing individual achievements in a specified order to advance the game to a next event in the story; and
presenting one or more additional location-based and virtual events via the one or more associated processing devices based on user progress.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the story is a narrative and user progress includes advancing the story.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing location-based events includes determining a user location and providing location-based events within a distance from the user location.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more location-based events has a link to one or more associated virtual events.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein one or more location-based events includes one or more characteristics of a time, a presence, and a location the user meets to complete the event.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes presenting one or more tokens indicating locations for location-based actions to a user via one or more of a map interface or an augmented reality interface.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the location-based actions include capturing one or more of said tokens by tracking a user position relative to the tokens.

8. The method of claim 7 further including automatically providing one or more tokens in the augmented reality interface when a user is located in a location having the one or more tokens.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes providing location-based events outside a distance from a user location and providing an event exchange allowing users to connect to designee players willing to complete events outside the distance from the user location.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the presenting is further based on relationships established between two or more users determined by accessing the two or more user's social graph from external sources.

11. A computer implemented method providing a location and virtual based gaming environment to a plurality of users, each user having one or more associated processing devices, comprising:
communicating a first set of real world location-based events contributing to user progress in a story in an application to the plurality of users via the one or more associated processing devices, the processing devices configured to play in a virtual environment the location based event comprising a user interaction at the location with a real world object other than the associated processing device;
communicating a second set of real world location-based events, different from the first set of location-based events, contributing to the user progress in the story in the application to the plurality of users via the one or more associated processing devices, the location based event comprising a user interaction at the location with a virtual object displayed at the location;
communicating a set of virtual based events, different from the first and second sets of real world location-based events, contributing to the user progress in the story to the plurality of users via the one or more associated processing devices, the virtual event comprising the user interaction with the virtual world object in the virtual environment;
tracking user location to determine user participation and completion in one or more location-based events contributing to the user progress in the story, and a side event contributing to the user progress, thereby allowing the user to acquire skills in completion of the story;
tracking user performance of one or more virtual events performed on the one or more associated processing devices having an instance of the application and contributing to the user progress in the story;
determining user completion of at least one location-based event and at least one virtual event linked to the location-based event, the user completion identifiable by marking an event achievement, each of the at least one location-based event and at least one virtual event contributing to the user progress in the story; and
updating the application to reflect the user progress of completing the events such that at least one of subsequent location-based events and virtual events are configured to be a next sequential event upon successful completion of the event achievement.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein tracking user location is performed by detecting user positioning information based on global positioning data provided by the processing device associated with the user.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein tracking user performance include one of tracking user location relative to one or more event based positioning tokens.

14. The method of claim 13 further including providing event based tokens to the processing device associated with the user by outputting one overlay information to the processing device.

15. The method of claim 14 further including notifying the user when a user location is proximate to a location-based event.

16. In a processing device including a processor and a user interface device, a computer readable medium including instructions for directing the processor to perform a method comprising:
receiving game event information from a location-based gaming service, the event information including a first set of real world location-based events at least a portion of which include contributing to user progress in a virtual game application, the first set of location based events comprising a user interaction with a real world object at a location; a second set of real world location-based events, different from the first set of location-based events, at least a portion of which contribute to the user progress in the virtual game application, the second set of location based event comprising a user interaction with a virtual object at a location; and a set of virtual based events, different from the first and s

Assignees

• Kinnebrew Peter Tobias
• Kamuda Nicholas Ferianc
• Kantor Aron B
• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Kinnebrew Peter Tobias
• Kamuda Nicholas Ferianc
• Kantor Aron B

Classifications

• A63F13/216

  using geographical information, e.g. location of the game device or player using GPS · CPC title

• A63F2300/5573

  player location · CPC title

• A63F2300/205

  for detecting the geographical location of the game platform · CPC title

• A63F2300/5566

  by matching opponents or finding partners to build a team, e.g. by skill level, geographical area, background, play style · CPC title

• A63F13/65 Primary

  automatically by game devices or servers from real world data, e.g. measurement in live racing competition · CPC title