EA Patents Technology To Let Players Stream Full Games Before They’ve Downloaded
"The dynamic video game client can utilize a state stream game engine in combination with a game application streaming service to provide users with the ability to begin playing games quickly on a huge range of devices," the patent reads. What this means is that you could request to play a video game you own without it being downloaded on your local system, propped up by a remote online stream akin to Google Stadia or other cloud-based services. It's not quite clear whether you will be downloading the game in the background during this process, but it is implied that this is the problem EA is trying to solve.
The patent copy can be found here, where it explains how this technology seeks to solve the "time consuming" installation process, sidestepping the wait to let players jump into the action. EA's patent observes the growing issue of games getting larger and taking longer to install. "Due to the large size of games, it can take a significant amount of time of a user to begin playing a game after it has been purchased," the patent reads. "This download process can be quite frustrating if a user is interested in playing a new game with friends or has a limited amount of time to play the game."
Players will likely still need to have a decent internet connection in order to manage the simulated game stream, but it means that players could jump into a game as soon as they buy it, rather than waiting for it to install or download first.
In other EA news, the company recently completed a $1.2 billion acquisition of Codemasters, which it will be treating as an "independent group," going forward. During an earnings call, it was revealed that the company had made $3 Billion from its Star Wars games and that it has no plans to slow down future development efforts with the licence.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
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