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| Microsoft Patent Reveals Automated System for Buying DLC |
| Xbox | |||
| Written by Jacob Lopez | |||
| Saturday, March 13, 2010 2:33 AM | |||
 You're on Xbox LIVE and a friend asks you to join in for some Modern Warfare multiplayer. Unfortunately, you never purchased the new map pack DLC. A recently published patent application by Microsoft shows off an automated system for purchasing DLC through a prompt that comes up as you accept an invite that requires content you don't have.
According to the patent, you will remain partied up, and rather than having to go to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, you will be given the option to purchase and install the content automatically.
Here's a description:
An automated direct transaction and delivery system for digital content ("ATDDC") provides for automated detection of missing digital content or resources required for a player or participant to participate in a multimedia application in either a single player or multiplayer environment is described. The ATDDC automatically detects that a player may not have installed particular required content or that a title update is required in order to participate in a media session or video game. Upon detection of missing content or resources the ATDDC provides direct bid to purchase the content or resources, provides for automatic download, installation and configuration of the content while allowing the player to remain in contact with other players within a party.
 The patent application uses a racing game as an example:
In a multiplayer environment, one or more players may send an invitation to a player to join the racing game. The inviting players may already have purchased the content for the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit while the invitee may in fact not have this content. Upon being presented with an invitation and attempting to join an ongoing race on the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, the invitee would typically be confronted with some type of error notification that he or she did not have the requisite content and resources. The invitee would then be required to back out of the commenced multiplayer session, manually locate the desired content, purchase the content, install the content, relocate the inviting players, prepare his own request to join their game and then join the game that may already be well underway. The above, especially the "error notification" and "manually locate the desired content" sound a lot like what happens now. Finally, it states that this "complex series of steps" may be "highly frustrating" and can lead to players leaving the session without purchasing the DLC, which may lead to "lower sales of content than desired due to the frustration factor." From my past experience with Xbox LIVE, it seems that players previously had to exit a game and hit up the Marketplace to find the content, then come back to a game that was already in progress. I know that some games also have different options, but this seems as if it could be used systemwide possibly through a firmware update. Here is the full text of the patent.
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