Experimentation and optimization service

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9737815-B2
Application number	US-201514601807-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2015
Priority date	Sep 10, 2014
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

A system, a machine-readable storage medium storing instructions, and a computer-implemented method are described herein for a System Tuner for customizing a player's experience. The System Tuner creates an optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players. The optimal game model corresponds to a player segment in the plurality of players. The System Tuner generates one or more rules for building a game variant based on the optimal game model. The System Tuner detects a first player accessing the game. The System Tuner determines a particular player segment to which the player belongs. The System Tuner generates a game variant based on an optimal game model for the particular player segment and sends the game variant to a client device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
creating, at a server computing device, at least one optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players, each optimal game model corresponding to a particular player segment in the plurality of players;
generating, at the server computing device, one or more rules for building a game variant based on a respective optimal game model;
receiving an indication, from a client computing device, of a first player requesting access to a game;
determining, at the server computing device, the first player belongs to a player segment from a plurality of player segments;
identifying the game's optimal game model for the first player's player segment;
generating an instance of a game variant based on one or more rules of the optimal game model for the first player's player segment; and
sending, from the server computing device, the instance of the game variant to the client computing device to be instantiated on the client computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein creating an optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players comprises:
defining at least one desired player activity in a game; and
identifying a plurality of player segments; wherein a player segment comprises a subset of the plurality of players that share at least one common attribute.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein defining at least one desired player activity in a game comprises:
defining a desired type of transaction request to be received from a player of the game.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein defining at least one desired player activity in a game comprises:
defining an increase in a number of additional players of the game, wherein each additional player has a respective social network connection with a current player of the game.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein identifying a plurality of player segments comprises:
for each player segment:
identifying previous instances of the at least one desired activity that have occurred in one or more game sessions played by one or more players who belong to the respective player segment;
identifying at least one setting of an adjustable feature of the game present during the one or more game sessions during which the previous instances of the desired activity occurred; and
incorporating the at least one setting of the adjustable feature as part of the optimal game model for the respective player segment.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , comprising:
upon sending the instance of the game variant to the client computing device:
receiving game performance data of the first player in an instantiation of the game variant for the first player's respective player segment; and
incorporating the game performance data of the first player into the game related data.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein creating at least one optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players comprises:
updating the optimal game model for the first player's player segment based on the game performance data of the first player.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations including:
creating at least one optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players, each optimal game model corresponding to a particular player segment in the plurality of players;
generating one or more rules for building a game variant based on a respective optimal game model;
receiving an indication of a first player requesting access to a game;
determining the first player belongs to a player segment from a plurality of player segments;
identifying the game's optimal game model for the first player's player segment;
generating an instance of a game variant based on one or more rules of the optimal game model for the first player's player segment; and
sending the instance of the game variant to a client computing device to be instantiated on the client computing device.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein creating an optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players comprises:
defining at least one desired player activity in a game; and
identifying a plurality of player segments, wherein a player segment comprises a subset of the plurality of players that share at least one common attribute.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein defining at least one desired player activity in a game comprises:
defining a desired type of transaction request to be received from a player of the game.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein defining at least one desired player activity in a game comprises:
defining an increase in a number of additional players of the game, wherein each additional player has a respective social network connection with a current player of the game.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein identifying a plurality of player segments comprises:
for each player segment:
identifying previous instances of the at least one desired activity that have occurred in one or more game sessions played by one or more players who belong to the respective player segment;
identifying at least one setting of an adjustable feature of the game present during the one or more game sessions during which the previous instances of the desired activity occurred; and
incorporating the at least one setting of the adjustable feature as part of the optimal game model for the respective player segment.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12 , comprising:
upon sending the instance of the game variant to the client computing device:
receiving game performance data of the first player in an instantiation of the game variant for the first player's respective player segment; and
incorporating the game performance data of the first player into the game-related data.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein creating at least one optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players comprises:
updating the optimal game model for the first player's player segment based on the game performance data of the first player.

15. A computer system comprising:
a processor;
a memory device holding an instruction set executable on the processor to cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
creating, at a server computing device, at least one optimal game model based on game-related data of a plurality of players, each optimal game model corresponding to a particular player segment in the plurality of players;
generating, at the server computing device, one or more rules for building a game variant based on a respective optimal game model;
receiving an indication, from a client computing device, of a first player requesting access to a game;
determining, at the server computing device, the first player belongs to a player segment from a plurality of player segments;
identifying the game's optimal game model for the first player's player segment;
generating an instance of a game variant based on one or more rules of the optimal game model for the first player's player segment; and
sending, from the server computing device; the instance of the game variant to the client computing device to be instantiated on the clien

Assignees

• Zynga Inc

Inventors

• Dhawan Anshul
• Gauthier Michael
• Tabay Oliver Attila
• Zakrzewski Jeffrey

Classifications

• A63F13/79

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

• A63F13/798

  for assessing skills or for ranking players, e.g. for generating a hall of fame · CPC title

• A63F13/67 Primary

  adaptively or by learning from player actions, e.g. skill level adjustment or by storing successful combat sequences for re-use · CPC title

• A63F13/87

  Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat · CPC title

• A63F13/537

  using indicators, e.g. showing the condition of a game character on screen · CPC title