- A new patent published by Sony discusses remastering games by simply overlaying better visuals on top of existing gameplay.
- The games can be modified with overlay images instead of traditional techniques to make remastering more efficient.
- Sony wants to cut the extensive redevelopment needed to remaster titles, suggesting we might see plenty of new remasters soon.
Remasters and remakes have become a normal part of gaming over the years, as they’re needed to rake in profits and fund AAA titles. Sony is infamous for releasing a lot of remasters, but a new patent by the company suggests that even more are on the way.
We’ve dug up a new patent that suggests Sony is exploring a unique way to expedite game remaster development using AI and neural-trained networks. The patent wants to shorten the time to remaster games by removing the extensive redevelopment process.
The document describes using AI-powered image overlays and post-processing to enhance game visuals, offering an alternative to traditional remastering methods.
a traditional remastering process can be avoided, and the computational and memory cost for modifying the appearance of the output image can be reduced as a large set of textures need not be stored and applied as required in other approaches.
Why it matters: Sony’s patent to make remastering games easier using AI suggests that it might be working on renovating more of its classic games with better visuals to release them soon.
The patent ‘DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND SYSTEM’ allows for real-time visual changes. This can let less powerful devices display graphics as if rendered on high-end hardware, as the overlays can be generated remotely using cloud servers.
Sony argues that remastering games using texture packs requires beefy rigs, while other methods also take much development time. So, image overlays can enhance resolution, textures, lighting, or completely transform a game’s art style using AI.
a content remastering process is frequently complex and has a high associated computational cost; in many cases content may need to be remade entirely.
The system can improve cross-platform efficiency by reusing remastered content across different platforms with the same overlay methods. This may remove the need for separate remasters to be developed entirely.
We might see Sony remaster a motley of games quickly and cost-effectively to soon bring older titles to modern platforms. The system can allow developers to remaster a greater range of games, even for devices with low-end hardware.
Sony has also published many unique patents over the decades, including one for creating AI ghost players for real-time player assistance and another for penalizing players in multiplayer games with outstanding skills or a platform advantage.
Do you think Sony will use the patent to release more remasters in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion on the Tech4Gamers forum.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.