Four granted patents appear in the Platforms & Ecosystems category this month, with Sony contributing 2, and Truist Bank and VRChat each contributing 1.
Sony's patents cover a recommendation system that introduces randomness into game suggestions to broaden player discovery, plus an account portability technology that transfers PlayStation 5 settings to third-party services. Truist Bank describes a banking system that links player point balances to random number generation for sweepstakes outcomes in computer games. VRChat's patent addresses user-generated content management through automated deduplication and validation of game objects before platform-wide distribution.
Truist Bank received 1 patent for a system that ties sweepstakes-style game outcomes to a player's banking data. The approach sends a player's accumulated point balance to an external random number generator, which then produces a result personalized to that account state rather than relying on a generic system call. The patent pairs this balance-seeded randomness with device-based geolocation authentication, creating an auditable chain that connects individual account information to each external RNG request.
Sony received 2 patents addressing player experience across different layers of the platform. The first introduces a "Gameplay Roulette" feature that narrows the pool of suggested titles to those matching user preferences, then applies a random selection from within that filtered set. This dual filter preserves personal relevance while steering players toward games they have not yet tried, sidestepping both the repetition of purely algorithmic recommendations and the irrelevance of unfiltered randomness. The second patent describes a digital passport mechanism that exports PlayStation 5 account settings to third-party applications and services, automatically configuring privacy preferences, content filters, and parental controls without requiring manual re-entry. The system surfaces exceptions when a third-party platform cannot support a particular setting, and includes an optional blockchain layer for tamper-resistant logging of who can modify passport assets and under what conditions.
VRChat received 1 patent for a pipeline that processes user-created game objects before they reach the wider platform. The system deduplicates uploaded assets and validates executable code against a whitelist of pre-approved safe segments, blocking unrecognized code at the point of submission rather than scanning after distribution. When platform updates occur, the pipeline automatically modifies assets to maintain compatibility, removing the need for creators to manually resubmit their work each time the underlying environment changes.
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.