If you’ve played Demon Souls, Dark Souls and Bloodborne, you’ll remember the ability to leave hints for other players. A new patent by Sony Interactive Entertainment describes something similar, but for all games.
The SIE patent refers to them as “in-game tags”. And the goal of these tags are just as described above. But in addition to just leaving text tips, the patent describes the ability to leave audio clips for this purpose as well. The patent itself uses what looks like a screenshot from Killzone with notes.
One reason for this patent filing is to reduce the reliance of third party walkthroughs. SIE says in the patent that because most walkthrough sites are unofficial in nature, their accuracy can be brought into question. But of course, even if help can be found within the game itself, that won’t stop others from trolling. You’ll understand if you’ve died jumping off a cliff because an in-game tip left by a troll told you so.
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It’s also worth noting that video help is usually a lot more reliable. And with this patent, it’s certainly a good sign that you’ll be able to get that in game. This saves you the time of having to head to YouTube to look for something similar. But as with all patents, it remains to be seen when, or if, Sony actually implements this. The PS5 is already plenty capable of supporting this feature, so it shouldn’t take too long.
