Sony, owner of EVO, has patented an esports betting system

It’s 2004, and I’m trying to image what it would be like if esports had proper salty bookies operating around that time, accepting bets on Street Fighter and Smash Bros. matches. “What, you want to bet everything on Daigo beating Justin Wong in the Evo semis? You’re mad kid,” the crusty bookie with a Bronx accent would say. “Sure, I’ll give ya five to one odds, it’s not like he’s going to pull off a miraculous parry at the last second with his weak corner-trap skills.”

Hindsight’s a bastard, but I’m ready to throw cash at the next round of Street Fighter, something which Sony may be working on now that it has patented its own “Esports Betting System”. Spotted by Gaming Route, the patent was filed on May 13 and has the following description:

"Odds for various propositions concerning the play of a computer simulation are determined and presented to a viewer for pecuniary or non-pecuniary wagering purposes. The odds may be determined using past game analytics, or may be determined parimutuelly [sic]."

So basically, Sony is looking to set up a way for players to view matches and place money on them, per the usage of the word “pecuniary”. There’s also the possibility that players may be able to bet with in-game currencies, which will probably go over real well in an era where the debate on video games having gambling mechanics has heated up over the last year.

While most legislation is focused on loot boxes and how they’ve created a false religion that worships RNGesus, people have begun expressing concern at how these gambling mechanics can be harmful at a young age. And to your wallet, so I’d advise enabling some two-factor authentication before your kids bet the house on a few rounds of Mortal Kombat 11 by mistake.

Sony has a number of patents in development, and this one is likely to see some sort of movement since the company purchased the biggest esports fighting tournament, EVO, in March. A new EVO event is planned for August, and I’m feeling lucky. Darryn needs a new pair of shoes after his last betting spree resulted in him having to eat Converse canvas for a few weeks! Goes great with Sriracha sauce by the way.

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