Update: Riot Files Patent for "Self-Moving Camera" for Online Spectators

[BlameTheWizards]

Update: Riot Files Patent for "Self-Moving Camera" for Online Spectators

The filing lists the camera as automatically following "interest values" around the playing field.

It's something of an understatement to say that League of Legends is popular. Recent statistics pegged the game as <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131716-League-of-Legends-Daily-Audience-Doubled-in-2013>having more than 27 million daily players over the course of 2013. As if that weren't enough, the game even has its own world championship series and is a favorite of streamers and online spectators.

Developer Riot is apparently taking League's status as a spectator sport seriously with a new patent filing for a "self-moving camera" that can be used to follow "interest values" around the map without a need for human control. For League of Legends, this would most likely apply to players or objectives such as turrets and jungle camps.

In the <a href=http://www.google.com/patents/US8636589>filing for the patent, titled "Systems and methods that enable a spectator's experience for online active games," Riot states that there is an interest among viewers of any popular activity to watch organized tournaments and events. However, when it comes to League of Legends, "the current spectator experience is somewhat limited. Accordingly, systems and methods to enable an improved spectator experience would be desirable," Riot writes.

Over on Reddit, poster Esports-Patent-Atty, who identifies as a patent attorney and League of Legends fan, speculates that Riot could use this filing to prevent other MOBA games like DOTA 2 from using a similar feature. However, Esports-Patent-Atty lists that Riot has previously advocated against restrictive IP laws such as SOPA, so they may take a more liberal stance with this patent. Esports-Patent-Atty also notes that Riot has patent applications for their Tribunal and matchmaking features.

Update: Riot has <a href=http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20140206/1165/no-interest-using-patents-offensively>posted on their website that they have no interest in using any of their patents offensively. "The U.S. patent system is broken and needs reform," Riot wrote. "We won't get in the way of anyone else building awesome spectator features, but we do want to make sure League of Legends players can always spectate freely."

Riot states that part of the reason for their patent applications is to protect themselves from patent trolls, who regularly make a habit of going after video game companies. Also worth noting is how Riot has previously <a href=http://www.riotgames.com/legal-jibber-jabber>given permission to its community to use its IP for fan projects that are either given away for free or only generate ad revenue.

Riot's post ends with a link to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Defend Innovation project, which is designed to address U.S. patent reform.

Source: Reddit, <a href=http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20140206/1165/no-interest-using-patents-offensively>Riot

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[Altorin]

Their spectator mode already does this. It's not very good though. Most of the time, a human hand is much better at capturing interesting moments. The Directed Camera just flops around. Maybe this patent indicates it will get better, but whenever I spectate, I never use it. It's just baffling trying to figure out why the computer deems this view so interesting.

 

[Candidus]

Dota 2 has had an automatic camera that uses hidden values to reliably pick up everything of interest almost since its inception (along with a better spectator experience than LoL's in general). Unless I'm missing something, Riot is now proposing to patent a feature that they were behind several others in implementing?

 

[Ziggy]

But... DotA 2 already have a "self-moving camera".

Edit after the update:
I see their reasoning and i am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Hagi]

Unless I'm missing something, Riot is now proposing to patent a feature that they were behind several others in implementing?

Don't think you're missing anything.

That seems to be about how the American patent system works from all I've gathered.

 

[mindfaQ]

Dota 2 already has this. Patent system sucks and needs to be reformed. Will this even go through, since it already exists elsewhere?

 

[RandV80]

Man trademarks are one thing, but we really don not need patents creeping into video games. That could just literally criple the industry, especially the now thriving indy scene.

And I've never cared for MOBA's but are they basically admitting it's boring to watch? I mean I occasionally like watching Starcraft 2 matches, but I tried a MOBA once taking one titled 'best game ever' and my god was it dull. I suppose if you're hardcore into the game it's one thing, but unlike Starcraft I really can't see the entertainment value in it.

 

[loa]

Riot Games did not invent a camera system that follows points of interest and can you even patent source code?

 

[Flutterguy]

Success wasn't enough I see. All of a sudden I no longer desire to play LoL.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Other games have had a "points of interest" camera mode for eons. I'm sure any other company will contest this and will counter-cue if Riot gets their patent granted and tries to sue anyone with an existing system even if they put it in a game released after the patent date. Unless they have a very special algorithm they are specifically patenting, they are just being patent trolls themselves. If I made a game that just followed random players around or switched to a point where 2 opponents just engaged each other, they would have no grounds to sue me since that has been a staple of online games since the late 90s.

We'll see how this turns out. I don't really know if Riot is the jackass kind of company that throws their weight around, but most game developers don't patent something unless it's a new idea they came up with and really do want to use a country's patent office for its intended purpose.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

since when in-game mechanics can be patented ?
if that was the case id Software should make a patent claim for every FPS in existence and Bethesda would become the lords of modern gaming.

 

[Shinkicker444]

This seems pretty stupid. Shouldn't be able to patent something that already exists elsewhere.

 

[Geisterkarle]

Could anyone tell me, when Counterstrike was including an automatic camera for points of interest? I think I saw it there like 5+y ago!

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

That's ridiculous. From what I've heard, Dota 2 has had that feature for over a year, and I SERIOUSLY doubt it never existed beforehand.

Then again, according to this link, they're supposedly not interested in being dicks about it (despite the rather vague statement that "we want to be 'collaborative'"), so hopefully we won't see any more controversy over this.

http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20140206/1165/no-interest-using-patents-offensively

 

[Kahani]

Dota 2 already has this. Patent system sucks and needs to be reformed.

To be fair to the patent system, that someone is able to apply for a stupid patent does not suggest there's anything wrong with the system. It's only when stupid patents get granted that there's a problem.

As for whether this one is a stupid patent, I'm not sure that's actually as clear as it may seem. It's important to remember that patents are not granted for an end result, but for the method used to produce it. Just because someone else has camera that moves automatically does not mean it's not possible for someone else to patent a different method of doing that. Looking at the actual application, it involves a particular way of partitioning, transmitting and analysing data in order to allow monitoring for various different events, and to allow the camera not only to move around automatically but also introduce time delays, replays and so on differently for different spectators. I don't know enough about how other games have dealt with similar ideas to know if this is actually different and original enough to be patentable, but it's clearly far more than simply a moving camera.

 

[Denamic]

Man, Riot's been trying real hard to be assholes lately. It's just dick move after dick move, becoming more shameless over time. At this rate, they'll just end up killing themselves eventually, and by then, I might even be happy about it.

 

[misg]

2013 was the year I really started to get tired of LoL, as the year ended and we move into a new year things haven't improved. If I didn't have friends playing I wouldn't play it at all and I won't be spending any more money on LoL.

 

[Mahorfeus]

Eh, I don't really bother with spectator mode all that much. When I do, I do tend to leave on the automatic camera though. It does its job well enough. I don't know exactly how patents work, but I presume Riot is just patenting their own version of it... same reason why there are at least ten dozen Dyson clones out there. I know, video games and vacuum cleaners, but still.