PlayStation Multiplayer Tech for ‘Nerfing’ Players Causing Concern

Sony Interactive Entertainment has patented new PlayStation multiplayer tech that some say will unfairly “nerf” skilled players. The company claims that its “real-time augmentation” for cross-platform play will offer an even playing field in multiplayer games. PlayStation multiplayer patent targets perceived platform advantage As spotted by Tech4Gamers, the patent in question was published this month […] The post PlayStation Multiplayer Tech for ‘Nerfing’ Players Causing Concern appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Apr 22, 2025 - 15:08

PlayStation Multiplayer Tech for ‘Nerfing’ Players Causing Concern

Sony Interactive Entertainment has patented new PlayStation multiplayer tech that some say will unfairly “nerf” skilled players. The company claims that its “real-time augmentation” for cross-platform play will offer an even playing field in multiplayer games.

PlayStation multiplayer patent targets perceived platform advantage

As spotted by Tech4Gamers, the patent in question was published this month but was originally filed back in 2024. Sony has proposed a system that’ll monitor a cross-platform gameplay session to detect any “technical” advantages and disadvantages between different platforms, then somehow level the playing field.

The patent mentions an unspecified threshold that the gameplay session must meet for the augmentation to kick off. Sony says if the “difference between the first valuation and the second valuation does not satisfy a threshold band of operation that is based on global skill levels of the first and second players,” then the gameplay of the first player is “augmented to modify the first valuation so that the threshold band of operation is satisfied in order to normalize effectiveness of playing the video game between the first and second players.”

Although PC and console players are expressing concerns already, Sony’s patent uses the example of a cross-platform session between a mobile user and a console user where the latter has a clear advantage over the former.

“The player using the mobile phone may be required to perform multiple swiping actions, each of which is more difficult to perform (i.e., holding the phone with one hand and repeatedly swiping the screen with the other hand) when compared to just pushing a toggle forward when using the gaming console,” Sony explains. “This introduces a technical disadvantage for the player using the mobile phone to perform the command when compared to the player playing on a gaming console.”

I’m not reading this as a method to “nerf” players, but I can see why this is causing concern among some.

Patents don’t always come to fruition, however, so it’s too soon to get your pitchforks out.

The post PlayStation Multiplayer Tech for ‘Nerfing’ Players Causing Concern appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.