PS5 PlayStation 5 Shared Controls

The USPTO has been very busy lately, approving and publishing several patents from Sony Interactive Entertainment. With PlayStation 5 on the horizon, it's always interesting to look at these, as they could possibly give us a glimpse at what the future holds. Just last week, we learned about a proposed PS5 controller device that could give you contextual information dependent on where you are. Now, it seems Sony wants us all playing together more often -- even in single player titles.

This patent details the ability to split a set of controls up and assign segments to up to four players, either locally or online. For example, player one is on the sticks, player two has the face buttons, and player three is in charge of the triggers. You'd each have a PS5 controller, but you'd each be in charge of certain commands. It sounds mad, and it might be fun for certain types of games, but we're not sold on this one.

However, the other aspect of this patent sounds more interesting. Using the cloud, players may be able to swap total control from one to another, say after a certain period of time. This would mean you and some friends could all play, for example, Uncharted's single player campaign "together", periodically swapping who's in charge of the on-screen action. This doesn't sound dissimilar to Share Play, functionality on PS4 in which players can view and join in with each other's games. It seems this patent is a progression of this tech.

What do you think of all this? Would you like to share controls with your pals in PS5 games? Let everyone have a turn in the comments below.

[source nl.letsgodigital.org]