This page covers 6 granted patents in Networking & Multiplayer from 3 companies: Nintendo (3), NetEase (2), and Niantic (1).
Nintendo's patents address visual synchronization challenges in multiplayer environments, including systems that dynamically adjust object movement to mask network latency and methods that render other players' characters as ghost-like entities that pass through objects to preserve single-player gameplay feel. NetEase patents technology for routing game traffic through mobile phone networks to reduce latency and a proxy-based system that intercepts and translates game language resources server-side without modifying clients. Niantic's patent covers parallel processing architecture for anticheat systems in AR games, allowing independent metric collection across nodes without waiting for complete datasets.
Nintendo received 3 patents addressing how to keep multiplayer experiences smooth and visually coherent despite network challenges. The first tackles latency by dynamically slowing down moving objects during a calculated window after an event, using measured transmission delays between specific device pairs to absorb timing differences without jarring position corrections. The other two patents explore ghost-like rendering approaches where other players' characters become translucent and pass through objects when overlapping, allowing multiple people to occupy the same game space without physical interference. This parallel-space approach lets players compete simultaneously while seeing ghosted opponents whose actions appear visually but don't create collision or blocking, maintaining the feel of single-player gameplay even in networked sessions.
NetEase received 2 patents that insert intermediary layers into game networking pipelines. One uses a mobile phone as a network accelerator for a separate console or PC, with the phone's client monitoring and rerouting game-specific traffic through its own connection to reduce latency without installing software on the host device. The other deploys a proxy server between game clients and servers to intercept data packets, extract language resources, translate them in real time, and send localized content back to players, enabling on-the-fly game translation without requiring developers to implement localization or players to modify their clients.
Niantic received 1 patent for an anticheat processing architecture that allows independent nodes to write their analyzed metrics to a database immediately upon completion rather than waiting for all nodes to finish processing the full dataset. This parallel write approach, combined with rate-limited database access, compresses end-to-end latency enough to analyze a full hour of player activity within a 30-minute window, making it practical for AR and parallel-reality games where timely cheat detection matters.
All data sourced from USPTO patent filings. Google Patents may take several weeks to index recent publications. If a link is unavailable, search for the patent number at USPTO Patent Public Search.