Sony has filed a patent document that could potentially allow AI to take over your game for you if you’re struggling with it. The documents suggest that this “ghost assistance” can be activated at any time to either guide a player through progression or assume direct control of gameplay.
As revealed in the patent documents first filed in September 2024 (via VGC), the AI assistance system could potentially play through a section of a game that a player is struggling with, completing it for them. Sony describes the idea of training its AI agent using “footage from many users that have played the game” and various other online sources where gameplay videos have been uploaded.
Over the last couple of years, Sony has worked on several features to make its video games more approachable. The PS5 console launched with the Game Help system, which offers helpful tips and tricks via short videos and images on PS5 cards that can be instantly called up during gameplay. While developers haven’t widely adopted it, it’s still a useful feature for the games that do.
Sony has also expanded accessibility options for several of its first-party games, while other titles like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West have been criticized for offering too much assistance to players via protagonist musings or nearby NPCs constantly offering advice. Microsoft is also experimenting in this space with its own AI-driven assistant. Revealed last year, Gaming Copilot is designed to provide help, recommendations, and other in-game support.