Sony patent hints at PlayStation Store overhaul

By Kes Eylers-Stephenson,

A new patent has been filed by Sony relating to the PlayStation Store game information pages becoming closely functionally intertwined with the ever-popular live service games.

Op Attack first reported the news, which was then all over Reddit leak forums, which was then picked up by Push Square. What you are looking at in the image above is a patent that suggests PlayStation Store changes are coming to better reflect the long life cycles of live-service games. It was published in May and wears its intent on its sleeve.

"The [Store] page is generated based on a layout that is specific to the phase of the lifecycle of a video game. The page is also customised based on a context of the user of the video game [...] the page presents the most relevant and needed information and functionalities at any point in time."

The racing game example above, compared to the old store page in the next slide, illustrates all of the patent terminologies surprisingly well. In essence, over the course a live service game, the storefront can be automatically updated to reflect that instance. So, let's say when the next season of Warzone hits, it won't just be the front page of the store that reflects the update, but the store page will entirely change to reflect the new map, guns, and operators. The intent here being to give you extra details about what is coming up, what has been added, and the new kind of things you could be doing.

In terms of personalisation, it might be pulling up your friend data, games that Warzone is similar to, and — most relevant for this site — what trophies you have left to do or the ones being added. This seems like a natural evolution of the storefront page for the changing state of popular video games. While a few select games already promote some of this information, this patent suggests implementing a technology that makes this process easier by being baked into the method in which a storefront is generated.

Is this an interesting bit of news? Do you think it would help you jump into different games while you browse? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson

Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about PS5 exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favorite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.