A number of new features that Sony has recently begun implementing into the PlayStation systems have been making strides towards letting the consoles help players without having to break too far out of the playing experience. One of the hardware developer's newest patents in particular looks like it could be compounding on another PS5 patent in order to guide players through difficult areas in different games.
Whether or not Sony will be implementing this new feature into both the PS4 and PS5 isn't exactly clear through the wording in the patent, but it is more likely to be coming exclusively to next-gen consoles at this point. Regardless, the way this new patent works means that it might mean more popular games that have more players to draw data from all at once, so it's success could be tied to the sales of the system it appears on.
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According to the language of the patent, Sony is looking to draw data from multiple players in order to build maps and guides based on the shared experiences by multiple playthroughs. Essentially, the system will begin tracking when an encounter or activity begins, and then build a guide for new players based on what inputs and mechanics others have used in order to complete the activity. This appears to be a less active version of using the PS5's updated clip sharing patent to guide player behavior with crowdsourced data as opposed to an individual experience.
The patent also seems to gauge a player's readiness for a specific activity, possibly through gauging their skill, but more likely by letting them know if they are missing a key component necessary for progress. This could be coming alongside some of Sony's patents improving player skill and trying to determine what type of help players need based on their individual skill level. So, higher skilled players may never even run into these features at all if they aren't having consistent trouble with any particular activity, though they can still add to the collected data.
None of this is new for the hardware developer, as many Sony patents already target helping players in a number of different ways from guide videos to matching new players with experts. For new players, this type of crowdsourced guide building can make some of the more confusing aspects of certain games easier to get through without getting stuck for too long. However, having Sony drawing data from aspects as small as how to beat a specific activity might be worrying for some players in the era of heightened online security.