Cloud Gaming & Streaming

Tencent received 4 patents spanning several distinct challenges in cloud gaming and immersive media delivery. The first covers an adaptive streaming system that uses a game engine as the rendering platform, intelligently caching reusable 3D assets so they don't need to be retransmitted across scenes and adjusting content based on what each device can handle. The second addresses cutscene delivery specifically, routing non-interactive sequences to a dedicated content server rather than processing them through the GPU-heavy cloud gaming server, which frees up rendering resources for actual gameplay. The third patent describes an automated update system that uses AI to visually recognize UI elements and simulate clicks, allowing game patches to be applied across cloud infrastructure without any human intervention. Rounding out the group, Tencent also received a patent for a coordinated upscaling system where the server reduces resolution when network conditions deteriorate and the client's AI compensates by enhancing those lower-resolution frames locally, maintaining visual quality without increasing bandwidth demand.

Now.GG received 1 patent covering cross-device authentication for cloud gaming environments. The system stores pre-provisioned tokens on client devices and uses them to unlock remote hardware, such as a screen-locked mobile device, while simultaneously verifying cloud authentication credentials. This goes beyond standard single sign-on by handling physical hardware access on the remote device, not just software-level authorization.

Nvidia received 2 patents, both addressing the secure distribution of game builds in cloud gaming pipelines, and the 2 are closely related in their approach. Each describes a form of envelope encryption where a content encryption key is attached directly to the content file as metadata, and an identifier for the key-encryption key is embedded in the filename itself. This eliminates the need for a centralized key repository, making each encrypted build self-contained and portable while reducing the risk that comes with a single point of failure in traditional CDN key management.

Samsung received 1 patent for a dedicated input handling module that operates as a process entirely separate from the game application itself. By giving this module its own independently provisioned authentication credentials, controller inputs can bypass the game's main execution thread, avoiding the latency spikes that occur when the game is performing heavy computation and competing for the same thread resources.

Intel's 1 patent addresses the challenge of rendering multiple simultaneous viewer perspectives in cloud-based esports spectating. The approach uses GPU-attached non-volatile memory to manage the rendering workload more efficiently, specifically targeting scenarios where thousands of unique viewpoints need to be generated and delivered in real time, rather than treating each spectator stream as a fully independent rendering task.

Bright Star Gaming received 1 patent for an adaptive asset delivery system that allows players to begin a game session before all content has finished loading. Assets are streamed dynamically in the background and prioritized based on device capabilities and what the player is likely to need next, replacing the conventional model of requiring a complete upfront download before any gameplay can begin.

Google received 2 patents covering different stages of the cloud gaming experience. One describes an infrastructure approach that time-shares GPU processing across concurrent sessions while running 2 parallel encoding streams, one optimized for low latency to serve the active player and one that uses leftover processing time within each frame interval to encode spectator feeds. The other patent focuses on level transitions, distributing game levels across separate cloud servers and using predictive pre-loading to pull assets from the appropriate server before a transition occurs, so players move between levels without encountering loading screens.

Sony received 3 patents that each approach a different layer of the cloud gaming stack. The first describes a split-client architecture where rendering and streaming responsibilities are divided between local and remote components, allowing the service operator to update the platform's interface and functionality entirely on the server side without requiring changes to the client software. The second covers a secondary channel system that streams image refinement data during paused or static game scenes, using available bandwidth to progressively improve visual quality without reconfiguring the primary video stream or causing synchronization disruptions. The third applies variable encoding at the object and region level within a single frame, allocating higher frame rates and resolution to gameplay-critical elements while reducing quality for less important areas, rather than encoding every pixel in the frame uniformly.

South Park Digital Studios received 1 patent for a system that allows a second device to remotely inject changes into another player's active cloud gaming session in real time. Rather than relying on the game's built-in rule engine to trigger in-game events, the system uses cloud infrastructure to mediate a direct control handshake between the 2 devices, enabling live, human-directed intervention during an ongoing session.

Amazon received 1 patent for a backend integration platform that connects common game services, such as authentication, matchmaking, and leaderboard systems, through pre-configured rule flows rather than custom integration code. Developers can chain these services together using templated workflows, shifting the integration process from writing code to selecting and configuring pre-built sequences.

Adeia's 1 patent addresses video compression behavior during scene changes in cloud gaming streams. The system creates a feedback loop between the encoder and the rate controller that estimates the bitrate a scene transition will require, compares it against available network capacity, and adjusts quantization or frame partitioning accordingly before transmission. This prevents the oversized frames that typically accompany scene changes without resorting to IDR frame requests, which would otherwise disrupt the stream.

Microsoft received 1 patent for a system that layers personalized content, such as advertisements or branding, over a cloud-streamed game without touching the underlying game code. The system analyzes player interaction patterns to predict when low-engagement moments are likely to occur and times the delivery of overlays to coincide with those windows, keeping the base game entirely unmodified.