The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for transfer of rights pertaining to game assets between users of an online gaming platform.
Distributed ledgers are known techniques to produce a secure record or registry of ownership of assets, transactions, and other information. For example, a distributed blockchain is a distributed ledger. Blockchain technology is known, e.g., as used for cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and other applications for a decentralized database. Tokenization of (digital) objects and/or assets on a distributed blockchain is known, e.g., as used for security tokens, utility tokens, and payment tokens.
One aspect of the present disclosure relates to a system configured for transfer of rights pertaining to game assets between users of an online gaming platform, the users including a first beneficiary, a second beneficiary, a first user, a second user, and a third user. The system may include one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions. The processor(s) may be configured to tokenize a game asset into a tokenized game asset. The game asset may be usable within the online gaming platform by an owner of a right to usage within the online gaming platform. The owner of the game asset may be the first user. The tokenized game asset may include a beneficiary right to a share resulting from selling of the game asset. The processor(s) may be configured to record, on a distributed blockchain, ownership of the beneficiary right. The beneficiary right may be owned by the first beneficiary. The ownership of the beneficiary right may be associated with ownership of a particular virtual item within the online gaming platform such that transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item corresponds to a change in the ownership of the beneficiary right. The processor(s) may be configured to, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the first user to the second user, transfer the share resulting from the sale to the first beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right. The processor(s) may be configured to, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item from the first beneficiary to the second beneficiary, recording, on the distributed blockchain that the beneficiary right is owned by the second beneficiary. The processor(s) may be configured to, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a second sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the second user to the third user, transferring a second share resulting from the second sale to the second beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right.
Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method for transfer of rights pertaining to game assets between users of an online gaming platform, the users including a first beneficiary, a second beneficiary, a first user, a second user, and a third user. The method may include tokenizing a game asset into a tokenized game asset. The game asset may be usable within the online gaming platform by an owner of a right to usage within the online gaming platform. The owner of the game asset may be the first user. The tokenized game asset may include a beneficiary right to a share resulting from selling of the game asset. The method may include recording, on a distributed blockchain, ownership of the beneficiary right. The beneficiary right may be owned by the first beneficiary. The ownership of the beneficiary right may be associated with ownership of a particular virtual item within the online gaming platform such that transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item corresponds to a change in the ownership of the beneficiary right. The method may include, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the first user to the second user, transferring the share resulting from the sale to the first beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right. The method may include, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item from the first beneficiary to the second beneficiary, recording, on the distributed blockchain that the beneficiary right is owned by the second beneficiary. The method may include, and responsive to receipt of information reflecting a second sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the second user to the third user, transferring a second share resulting from the second sale to the second beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right.
As used herein, any association (or relation, or reflection, or indication, or correspondency) involving servers, processors, client computing platforms, smart contracts, game assets, ownership rights, usage rights, beneficiary rights, sales, proceeds, virtual items, and/or another entity or object that interacts with any part of the system and/or plays a part in the operation of the system, may be a one-to-one association, a one-to-many association, a many-to-one association, and/or a many-to-many association or N-to-M association (note that N and M may be different numbers greater than 1).
As used herein, the term “obtain” (and derivatives thereof) may include active and/or passive retrieval, determination, derivation, transfer, upload, download, submission, and/or exchange of information, and/or any combination thereof. As used herein, the term “effectuate” (and derivatives thereof) may include active and/or passive causation of any effect. As used herein, the term “determine” (and derivatives thereof) may include measure, calculate, compute, estimate, approximate, generate, and/or otherwise derive, and/or any combination thereof.
These and other features, and characteristics of the present technology, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
In some implementations, system 100 and/or servers 102 may be configured to communicate with one or more of (online) gaming platform(s) 136, gaming platform operator(s) 132, users 138, blockchain(s) 140, and/or other components and/or users. As used herein, gaming platform 136 may refer to either an individual game, a type of gaming console and its ecosystem, and/or both. Gaming platform operator 132 may refer to a host, operator, owner, and/or other stakeholder of gaming platform 136. Users 138 may include players who play on gaming platform 136.
In some implementations, a distributed blockchain such as blockchain 140 may be maintained by a distributed computing platform (not shown in
A distributed blockchain may act as a decentralized database that stores a registry of assets and transactions across one or more networks. A given asset may be owned by a particular user. An asset may include anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by or on behalf of a person or company, according to some implementations. A right pertaining to an object may be an asset, the object being a physical or a virtual item. Multiple rights may form a set of rights or a bundle of rights that may be transferred and/or otherwise acted on or operated on together. For example, rights may include a right to use, a right to sell, a right to destroy, and/or other rights.
In some implementations, blockchain(s) 140 may record ownership of assets. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, blockchain(s) 140 may record transactions that modify ownership of assets. A smart contract may be a type of asset. In some implementations, once a smart contract has been added to the distributed blockchain, the smart contract may be referred to as published and/or posted. Elements of blockchain(s) 140 may be grouped together in units that are referred to as blocks. For example, an individual block may include one or more assets and one or more transactions.
Blockchain(s) 140 may be publicly accessible and append-only. In some implementations, existing blocks of a distributed blockchain can substantially not be altered or deleted, unless multiple copies of the distributed blockchain are altered. This is unlikely to happen provided that multiple copies of the distributed blockchain are stored on different computing platforms, e.g., in different geographical locations. The distributed blockchain may be replicated on multiple computing platforms, preferably in multiple different geographical locations.
Server(s) 102 may be configured by machine-readable instructions 106. Machine-readable instructions 106 may include one or more instruction components. The instruction components may include computer program components. The instruction components may include one or more of a tokenization component 108, an ownership recording component 110, a sharing component 112, a benefit component 114, a game interface component 116, and/or other instruction components.
Tokenization component 108 may be configured to tokenize a game asset into a tokenized game asset. Game assets may be (collections and/or packages of) virtual items usable within an online gaming platform, such as gaming platform 136. In some implementations, a game asset may be a level, mission, assignment, chapter, task, mini-game, and/or other package of content that is usable within gaming platform 136. Game assets may be usable within gaming platform 136 by an owner of a right to usage within gaming platform 136. The owner of a first particular game asset may be the first user, the owner of a second particular game asset may be the second user, and so forth.
As used herein, the term tokenization refers to the process of dividing the value of an asset into individual elements (sometimes referred to as tokens, or as tokenized assets). The value may include one or more rights pertaining to the asset and/or its individual elements. The individual elements may be individually exchanged, e.g., through a sale and/or other transaction. For example, some elements of a corporation may be tokenized through shares or stocks. As used in this disclosure, an asset may be tokenized into individual elements that are stored and/or otherwise recorded on blockchain(s) 140. Once recorded, blockchain(s) provides a secure record or registry of ownership of the individual elements (i.e., the tokenized assets).
In some implementations, a tokenized game asset may include various rights, including a beneficiary right to one or more shares resulting from a particular action or activity (such as, e.g., a sale of a particular game asset), e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the particular game asset. As used herein, a share resulting from a particular action or activity may include one or more of a share of the proceeds of the particular action or activity, a fee related to the particular action or activity, a minimum payment triggered by the occurrence of the particular action or activity (or a set of particular actions or activities), and/or another arrangement for payment and/or compensation, including but not limited to combinations of fixed fees, minimum fees, percentages of sales, percentages of profits, and/or other arrangements. The term “share” does not imply or require a percentage or ratio, but rather is intended to signify that beneficiaries receive something of value and/or use. For example, the particular game asset may be a magical sword that a player can use within a particular online gaming platform 136. Ownership of the magical sword within the particular online gaming platform 136 enables a particular player to use the magical sword. In other words, (at least some type of) ownership may correspond to usage rights. For example, ownership of the usage right may be represented by including the magical sword in the inventory of the particular player (and not in the inventories of other players). A tokenized game asset based on, derived from, and/or otherwise related to the magical sword may be a token (say, a sword token) that represents one or more rights pertaining to the magical sword. For example, in some implementations, the one or more rights may include a beneficiary right to a share resulting from selling, e.g., within online gaming platform 136, of the magical sword. For example, in some implementations, the one or more rights may include a beneficiary right to a share resulting from (certain types of) use, within online gaming platform 136, of the magical sword. For example, once the magical sword is sold within online gaming platform 136, the owner of the beneficiary right may receive a certain share resulting from this sale, as defined by the beneficiary right. For example, once the magical sword is exchanged or traded within online gaming platform 136, the owner of the beneficiary right may receive a certain share as defined by the beneficiary right. For example, once the magical sword is used within online gaming platform 136 to create wealth and/or other profits, the owner of the beneficiary right may receive a certain share as defined by the beneficiary right. In some implementations, for example, the beneficiary right may define the share as a certain percentage of the proceeds and/or profit. The certain percentage may be 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and/or another percentage. In some implementations, for example, the beneficiary right may define the share as a fixed fee and/or minimum fee of a certain amount. In some implementations, for example, the beneficiary right may define the share as a combination of a fee and a percentage, according to some arrangement for payment. In some implementations, ownership of the sword token and/or any one or more rights pertaining to the magical sword may be recorded, e.g. on blockchain(s) 140. In some implementations, a particular game asset may correspond to multiple beneficiary rights that are owned by multiple beneficiaries. For example, a share resulting from a particular action or activity may be split in any way among multiple beneficiaries.
Ownership recording component 110 may be configured to record ownership pertaining to assets. In some implementations, ownership recording component 110 may be configured to record ownership on a distributed blockchain such as blockchain(s) 140. In some implementations, ownership recording component 110 may be configured to record ownership of one or more rights pertaining to assets, including but not limited to game assets and/or other virtual items usable within an online gaming platform, such as gaming platform 136. For example, the one or more rights may include a beneficiary right to a share resulting from selling (and/or other specific use), e.g., within gaming platform 136, of a particular game asset.
In some implementations, tokenizing a game asset into a tokenized game asset may include converting ownership rights regarding the game asset into one or more tokens that are stored on blockchain(s) 140. In some implementations, the ownership rights may be managed through a smart contract on the distributed blockchain. One or more beneficiary rights may be owned by a first beneficiary, a second beneficiary, and/or other beneficiaries. In some implementations, ownership of the beneficiary right may be associated with ownership of a particular virtual item within online gaming platform 136 (or another online gaming platform) such that transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item corresponds to a change in the ownership of the beneficiary right. For example, the sword token may be associated with a particular virtual coin within gaming platform 136. The player who owns the particular coin within gaming platform 136 may also be the owner of the beneficiary right pertaining to the magical sword. Accordingly, transferring the particular coin to another player may also transfer ownership of the beneficiary right pertaining to the magical sword. In some implementations, beneficiaries may own beneficiary rights without being users of gaming platform 136.
Recording the ownership of the beneficiary right may include posting a message on the distributed blockchain. In some implementations, ownership of beneficiary rights may be managed through smart contracts on the distributed blockchain. In some implementations, ownership recording component 110 may be configured to generate, post, and/or otherwise use smart contracts on blockchain(s) 140. For example, ownership of the beneficiary right of a particular tokenized game asset may be managed through a particular smart contract on blockchain 140. For example, in some types of blockchains, users may be identified by unique identifiers, such as a (blockchain) address and/or an account identifier. For example, the first beneficiary may be associated with a first beneficiary address, the second beneficiary may be associated with a second beneficiary address, and so forth. Effectuating the transfer within gaming platform 136 of the particular virtual item from the first beneficiary (i.e., a first player) to the second beneficiary (i.e., a second player) may include effectuating a change in the beneficiary address included in the particular smart contract from the first beneficiary address to the second beneficiary address. In some implementations, the share resulting from selling of a particular game asset in accordance with the beneficiary right may be transferred to the beneficiary address in the particular smart contract.
By way of non-limiting example,
In block 1, one asset (labeled Ax) is generated and/or assigned to user l (Ul). For example, the asset in block 1 may be a beneficiary right included in a particular tokenized game asset of a particular game asset within an online gaming platform. Additionally, block 1 includes two transactions (indicated by a capital “T”): a first transaction from user i to user j, and a second transaction from user j to user k. Block 2 includes a first transaction from user j to user m, and a second transaction from user j to user n. In some implementations, based on the contents of the blocks, any user of blockchain 140a may determine the current assets of blockchain 140a, and the balances of any user. In some implementations, the balance of a particular user may be verified prior to adding a transaction that reduces that particular user's balance. For example, an individual user may not be allowed to transfer more assets than the individual user owns.
Referring to
By way of non-limiting example,
Referring to
Sharing component 112 may be configured to, responsive to receipt of information reflecting a second sale of a particular game asset from the second user to a third user, and further responsive to a change in beneficiary, transfer a second share resulting from the second sale to the current, second beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right. In some implementations, the second share may include a portion of the proceeds of the second sale. For example, refer to the transactions in block 5 in
In some implementations, the first user may be associated with a first inventory including a first set of virtual items usable within the online gaming platform. In some implementations, a second user may be associated with a second inventory including a second set of virtual items usable within the online gaming platform, and so forth. In some implementations, the first beneficiary may be associated with a first beneficiary inventory including virtual items usable within the online gaming platform. In some implementations, the second beneficiary may be associated with a second beneficiary inventory including virtual items usable within the online gaming platform, and so forth. In some implementations, the smart contract may include a beneficiary address.
Game interface component 116 may be configured to facilitate interaction between blockchain(s) 140, gaming platform 136, and/or system 100. For example, in some implementations, game interface component 116 may be configured to transfer information to system 100 and/or blockchain(s) 140 that reflect particular activity (e.g., a sale) within gaming platform 136. For example, in some implementations, game interface component 116 may be configured to transfer information to system 100 and/or blockchain(s) 140 that reflect particular activity (e.g., a transfer of ownership) within gaming platform 136 (e.g., a transfer of ownership of a tokenized game asset, such as, e.g., a sword token). For example, in some implementations, game interface component 116 may be configured to transfer information to system 100 and/or gaming platform 136 reflect particular activity (e.g., a transaction) within blockchain(s) 140. In some implementations, operations of a particular gaming platform and a particular blockchain may be fully integrated such that information reflecting any such operations may be available to both the particular gaming platform and the particular blockchain.
In some implementations, server(s) 102, client computing platform(s) 104, and/or external resources 118 may be operatively linked via one or more electronic communication links. For example, such electronic communication links may be established, at least in part, via one or more networks 13 such as the Internet and/or other networks. It will be appreciated that this is not intended to be limiting, and that the scope of this disclosure includes implementations in which server(s) 102, client computing platform(s) 104, and/or external resources 118 may be operatively linked via some other communication media.
A given client computing platform 104 may include one or more processors configured to execute computer program components. The computer program components may be configured to enable an expert or user associated with the given client computing platform 104 to interface with system 100 and/or external resources 118, and/or provide other functionality attributed herein to client computing platform(s) 104. By way of non-limiting example, the given client computing platform 104 may include one or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a tablet computing platform, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a gaming console, and/or other computing platforms.
External resources 118 may include sources of information outside of system 100, external entities participating with system 100, and/or other resources. In some implementations, some or all of the functionality attributed herein to external resources 118 may be provided by resources included in system 100.
Server(s) 102 may include electronic storage 120, one or more processors 122, and/or other components. Server(s) 102 may include communication lines, or ports to enable the exchange of information with a network and/or other computing platforms. Illustration of server(s) 102 in
Electronic storage 120 may comprise non-transitory storage media that electronically stores information. The electronic storage media of electronic storage 120 may include one or both of system storage that is provided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server(s) 102 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server(s) 102 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or a drive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 120 may include one or more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.), and/or other electronically readable storage media. Electronic storage 120 may include one or more virtual storage resources (e.g., cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storage resources). Electronic storage 120 may store software algorithms, information determined by processor(s) 122, information received from server(s) 102, information received from client computing platform(s) 104, and/or other information that enables server(s) 102 to function as described herein.
Processor(s) 122 may be configured to provide information processing capabilities in server(s) 102. As such, processor(s) 122 may include one or more of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information. Although processor(s) 122 is shown in
It should be appreciated that although components 108, 110, 112, 114, and/or 116 are illustrated in
In some implementations, method 200 may be implemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices executing some or all of the operations of method 200 in response to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations of method 200.
An operation 202 may include tokenizing a game asset into a tokenized game asset. The game asset may be usable within the online gaming platform by an owner of a right to usage within the online gaming platform. The owner of the game asset may be the first user. The tokenized game asset may include a beneficiary right to one or more shares resulting from selling of the game asset. Operation 202 may be performed by one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions including a component that is the same as or similar to tokenization component 108, in accordance with one or more implementations.
An operation 204 may include recording, on a distributed blockchain, ownership of the beneficiary right. The beneficiary right may be owned by the first beneficiary. The ownership of the beneficiary right may be associated with ownership of a particular virtual item within the online gaming platform such that transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item corresponds to a change in the ownership of the beneficiary right. Operation 204 may be performed by one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions including a component that is the same as or similar to ownership recording component 110, in accordance with one or more implementations.
An operation 206 may include responsive to receipt of information reflecting a sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the first user to the second user, transferring a share resulting from the sale to the first beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right. Operation 206 may be performed by one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions including a component that is the same as or similar to sharing component 112, in accordance with one or more implementations.
An operation 208 may include responsive to receipt of information reflecting a transfer of ownership of the particular virtual item from the first beneficiary to the second beneficiary, recording, on the distributed blockchain that the beneficiary right is owned by the second beneficiary. Operation 208 may be performed by one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions including a component that is the same as or similar to benefit component 114, in accordance with one or more implementations.
An operation 210 may include and responsive to receipt of information reflecting a second sale, e.g., within the online gaming platform, of the game asset from the second user to the third user, transferring a second share resulting from the second sale to the second beneficiary in accordance with the beneficiary right. Operation 210 may be performed by one or more hardware processors configured by machine-readable instructions including a component that is the same as or similar to sharing component 112, in accordance with one or more implementations.
Although the present technology has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be the most practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the technology is not limited to the disclosed implementations, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood that the present technology contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any implementation can be combined with one or more features of any other implementation.
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