Sony Interactive Entertainment, a digital entertainment company and subsidiary of the Sony Group Corporation, has recently published a patent for an esports betting platform. The patented platform will be accepting bets in cryptocurrency but also in game assets and digital rights.
Sony filed the patent back in 2019 but published it only this month. The patented platform would allow esports enthusiasts to place bets in real time using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They could do this as they watch esports games through a user interface overlay that would appear in the broadcast. The betting odds would be calculated by an AI and based on the play history of the competing players.
Whether this patent will turn into reality or not remains to be seen, just like with several other patents Sony has published this month: A system that connects struggling players with “experts” to help them advance in the game, and a patent that relies on AI to adjust a game’s difficulty on the fly, intended to enhance player accessibility and accommodate more players.
Players interested in platforms that accept BTC for esports betting are enthusiastic about this news, and Sony has never shied away from integrating cryptocurrency. Even before the Bitcoin price skyrocketed, Sony experimented with allowing its customers to use BTC as a currency on its network.
Another exciting side to this patent is that it is not exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation consoles, based on patent wording: “[PlayStation consoles] or a game console made by Microsoft or Nintendo or other manufacturer virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) headsets, portable televisions (e.g. smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), portable computers such as laptops and tablet computers, and other mobile devices including smartphones.”
Sony made the headlines earlier this month with news that disappointed players globally - the company will not meet the demand for PlayStation 5 until 2022, which could be the reason for publishing this patent. It could also be simply jumping on the bandwagon since Ubisoft, Sega, and GameSpot are all eyeing cryptocurrency implementation.
