Sony Patents Videogames That Decay over Time

Sony Computer Entertainment has recently obtained a new patent from the United States Patent & Trademark Office linked with the idea of delivering full games to players for free but with the added concept that after a while, they are set to begin decaying and offer an ever smaller game experience as time goes by until the player decides to pay the full price for the game.

The abstract of the patent itself says, “A demonstration video game permits garners a more complete game experience while promoting a desire to acquire permission to continue playing. In some embodiments, a video game is implemented with trigger metrics. While a user may initially experience most or all of the full version of the game in a demonstration mode, the mode implements trigger metrics to erode game play characteristics, such as character, object, event and/or environmental features, during video game play in the demonstration mode.”

Imagine getting Uncharted 2 or Batman: Arkham Asylum on a Blu-ray disk but for free and being able to pop it in the PlayStation 3 and begin playing immediately, having access to all the features they have to offer, including the competitive multiplayer and the cooperative stages.

After a while, something like six hours actually played, the multiplayer element of the game might become inaccessible for the player, who can still log in some playtime in the single player adventure, before it is also gone, after, let's say, something like hours spent with Uncharted 2. As soon as the player completes a digital transaction with Sony, probably via the PSN, all the game content becomes accessible again.

It's quite an interesting proposition and could instantly solve the main problem with demos nowadays: their not being able to show off the best elements of the game they are trying to sell. It's also a sort of return to the shareware model of game distribution, which thrived in the '90's, although with more complicated technology powering it.