Konami received 4 granted patents in H1 2026 across Platforms (1), Game Mechanics (1), Streaming (1), and Game Engines (1).
The Platforms patent covers integration with external music Streaming services for rhythm games, allowing players to access licensed songs from subscription Platformss. In Streaming, the company patented technology enabling livestream viewers to jump directly into a streamer's active game state. The Game Mechanics and Game Engines patents describe digital card game systems with zone-restricted placement rules and multiplayer board game frameworks with strategic media positioning across interconnected spaces.
The 1 Platforms patent tackles a long-standing friction point in rhythm games: getting licensed music into the hands of players. Rather than negotiating rights for each individual track, Konami's approach separates the music content and the game's scoring data onto distinct servers, then brings them together in real time during play. This architecture lets a rhythm game draw from whatever songs are available through a third-party subscription service, such as Spotify, without requiring a separate licensing deal for every track a player might want to use.
Turning to Game Mechanics, 1 patent covers the rules governing how cards are placed on the board in a digital card game, a system likely designed for titles like Yu-Gi-Oh!. The key distinction is between cards drawn from the Main Deck, which occupy zones exclusive to each player, and cards from the Extra Deck, which can only be placed in a smaller set of shared zones. On top of that, Composite Monster Cards shift their placement eligibility depending on whether they sit face-up or face-down, adding another layer of decision-making to how players position their cards in any given turn.
The 1 Streaming patent addresses what happens when a viewer wants to do more than simply watch a livestream. Konami's approach generates what the patent calls "modifiable replaying information," a package that captures a specific point in a streamer's game progress and bundles it directly into the stream. A viewer can then take that encoded state and play from that exact moment themselves, rather than starting from scratch, with the whole process built into the Streaming infrastructure rather than handled as a separate file transfer.
Rounding out the 4 categories, the 1 Game Engines patent describes a board game system built for 3 or more players, where participants place gaming media across interconnected spaces according to a structured correspondence system. The design sits between the simplicity of 2-player games and the open-ended complexity of 4-player formats, using predetermined relationships between board areas to shape the range of moves available without removing strategic choice entirely.
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.