It should be said that it takes quite some time for a patent to eventually become reality, so players shouldn’t expect to see Sony’s grand new idea in action anytime soon. Regardless, it’s not a bad idea to keep a close watch on its development, as it could drastically alter how difficulty is handled in video games moving forward.

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The patent gives several different variations of how this process could work, but the main idea is that players will have the choice to opt into adjustable difficulty when they start the game. It can either adjust the difficulty of all AI enemies or only the bosses of levels, and it will react to the player’s performance. If players perform well, the enemies will get more difficult to compensate, whereas those that are struggling will find weaker enemies blocking their path. Its notion of difficulty seems to be more complex than just increasing health and damage, as the AI would be capable of coding new attack patterns for enemies.

This type of reactive difficulty isn’t necessarily anything new, but it’s never been used to this level before. Mario Kart is a classic example of this principle in action. If players are at the back of the pack, the game is a bit easier for them because they will get all the best power ups available. By contrast, those that perform well and manage to stay in first place will have access to a much more limited array of items. Sony’s AI would take this concept to the next level.

The AI would be capable of adjusting rewards as well, giving players that defeat higher difficulty enemies better rewards. There’s also mention of adjusting difficulty based on the performance of different groups, meaning it may not be based just on one player’s skill but the skill of all players globally. The possibilities are nearly endless if Sony can create something like this, so hopefully this feature is able to be implemented sooner rather than later.

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Source: USPTO