A method by which a streaming interactive video user session is handed off from one streaming interactive video server to another without noticeable disruption to the video stream or the user interactivity.

Systems and methods of the present invention for maintaining network data distribution are provided. Network data may be distributed in such as manner as to allow a network session to weather interrupted communications between host and clients without significant loss of data. Embodiments of the present invention provide for one or more clients to serve as backup host(s) for the network session. When the other clients transmit data to the host, they may also transmit the data to one or more backup hosts if there are any indications of interrupted communication.

Systems and methods of curiosity driven reinforcement learning agents promote novel exploration of a virtual interactive environment. The data of the exploration can be stored in a buffer to determine, generate, and display visualizations in the virtual interactive environment. The visualizations can correspond to identify issues in the virtual interactive environment and/or identify relationships between regions of the virtual interactive environment.

Disclosed is a method for experimentally optimizing information quality and engagement in crowd sourced evaluation systems. It allows estimating efficiencies of different strategies to provide the greatest opportunity for social learning. It can be used for continuous tuning of social feedback. Also disclosed is a system that allows experimentation with crowd sourced evaluations of virtual services. The experimental system supports large scale online recruitment of participants into web-browser 3D virtual world. The virtual world can be designed to approximate several types of real-world, distributed information systems. Social influences can be experimentally introduced into the feedback system in order to empirically optimize its utility.

A system and method for passively validating network game users is provided. Data indicative of game behavior and actions at one or more nodes interacting with a network game in a network game community are monitored. The data is evaluated to determine whether the one or more nodes are adhering to one or more rules associated with the network game. Data indicative of illicit game behavior may trigger various responses including invalidation of the node engaged in the illicit behavior. Alternatively, a query may be generated to further identify the nature and/or actual existence of illicit behavior at the node. Monitoring of game data may occur at a server, a peer, as part of a peer group or combinations thereof, which may be based on routine schedule or part of constant game behavior monitoring.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, and computer storage media directed to anti-cheat detection in online multiplayer video games. An anti-cheat kernel driver adapted to validate and secure a system state of a gaming device is loaded during a booting process of the gaming device. The loaded anti-cheat kernel driver ensures that the system state cannot be tampered with from the time of boot through the duration of gameplay. The loaded anti-cheat kernel driver can also receive anti-cheat modules communicated to the gaming device from an anti-cheat server, so that anti-cheat modules are received and executed on an ad hoc basis dictated by the anti-cheat server. The anti-cheat server can autonomously manage the anti-cheat operations performed on a kernel layer or application layer of the gaming device, and conduct anti-cheat mitigation operations if necessary.

Technologies and implementations for managing an experience during play of an interactive electronic game are generally disclosed.

A system and method of playing a video game in a streaming mode includes executing a selected video game on an assigned game server, receiving execution control signals corresponding to user inputs to a client device to generate multiple video frames. Encoding the video frames in a shared hardware compression. Some of the encoded video frames depend on a preceding frame. A first and a second encoded video frame are transmitted to the client device. A first feedback signal from a decoder in the client device identifies that the second encoded video frame was not received the decoder. A third encoded video frame dependency is adjusted to produce an adjusted third encoded video frame that depends from the first encoded video frame and the adjusted third encoded video frame is transmitted to the client device.

Systems and methods for analyzing a game application are disclosed. While the game application is executed in a gameplay session, embodiment of the systems and methods can acquire data associated with the game application. The data acquired during the gameplay session may be associated with a session identifier. Different types of data (such as telemetry data and video data) can be linked together using the timestamps of the gameplay session. A user can choose a timestamp of the gameplay session to view the data associated with that timestamp. In certain embodiments, the systems and methods can associate an event with one or more timestamps. When a user chooses the event, the systems and methods can automatically display event data starting from the beginning of the event.

A server system and the like allow the users who play asynchronous games to perceive each other's presence to prompt the users to communicate with each other and feel a sense of solidarity. When the progress of a first game played by one player has changed to be advantageous to the player due to the use of an AP recovery item or the like, a parameter in the first game is incremented (e.g., action points AP are recovered). A parameter in a second game played by a friend user of the player is also incremented (e.g., the action points AP are recovered) through an extension control process. An activation notification W12 that notifies to that effect is displayed on a user terminal of the player who plays the first game.