5 ms·

EA has made five of its accessibility patents free for any studio to use

38 points by bdz 5y ago

smoldesu 5y ago
This is a step in the right direction, but no game studio has yet matched the insane generosity of id Software. When they released a GPL-licensed version of the Quake 2 source code, I immediately understood that I wanted to be a developer. I grew up playing the game like sacrament, so seeing such unparalleled benevolence from the devs was highly inspiring for me. All of it makes me fantasize about a utopia where all game logic is open, and what kind of incredible community that might spawn.
MattGaiser 5y ago
I only see 4 patents?
gmueckl 5y ago
Does anyone have the patent numbers? I want to understand the music related patent, but I have nothing to go on other than the one sentence blurb that every news outlet seems to copy verbatim from EA's press release. Google doesn't turn up anything useful for me. Edit: spoke too soon. Just found this article that links to the patents: https://htxt.co.za/2021/08/ea-to-allow-other-developers-free-use-of-patented-accessibility-tech/ https://htxt.co.za/2021/08/ea-to-allow-other-developers-free...
rPlayer6554 5y ago
This seems like a good thing. Especially the ping system....Apex's Ping system is miles ahead of any game. It increases the playability for all players by a tremendous amount.
- thisisonthetest 5y ago
  Tons of games have ping systems that are comparable if not much more advanced. Dota 2 has had pinging since 2013 and expanded features like a chat wheel in 2017. Idk how patents work but it’s hard to believe EA gets to claim this as their thing when prior art exists
  - gmueckl 5y ago
    I think the claim here isn't the fact that you can ping, but that you can do it in context. I haven't played Apex, so I can only go on descriptions that I find online. It seems that the system allows players to convey a lot of information with the type of marker they set from a radial menu. And supposedly you can even even put markers on specific items in dead teammate's inventories to call dibs and stuff. My interpretation is that the system was specifically developed to convey a significant portion of the information that is usually communicated verbally between teammates when in a match.
- pests 5y ago
  I was recently playing battlefield 5 when it came free to ps now users a few months back... It lacks a ping system and I think it really added to the immersion of the game. There is some recon tech that will mark players for a little but seeing shots being fired at my squad and having to visually find their origin or communicate their location in comms was a nice chance after modern ping systems showing locations exactly and immediately.
andrewzah 5y ago
"It only has one exception: if someone files a lawsuit against EA for infringing a different patent, EA will refuse to share the accessibility patents with them." How nice of EA.
- amelius 5y ago
  Is this even legally possible? Can you make use of clauses that impede justice?
- dogma1138 5y ago
  It’s pretty standard for FRAND and other patent sharing agreements.
- jcranmer 5y ago
  You sound like you'd be surprised to discover that similar patent retaliation clauses exist in popular open source licenses like Apache or MPL.
  - sedatk 5y ago
    Tesla released their patents for other car manufacturers with a similar clause too.
- munk-a 5y ago
  I'm not a fan of EA and I feel like this restriction probably wasn't a strict requirement by legal (while as the opposite might be very good counsel - refusing access to any patented material while another party is believed to be infringing on other IP of your). But like... it's free so either this has no impact on your life because you choose not to use it over it being a potential landmine legally - or you make use of it. Either way I think this move is at minimum neutral and probably a net good.
  - andrewzah 5y ago
    It is free, but with conditions. I dislike EA doing this as a publicity stunt while they’re essentially keeping people at their mercy if they use these patents. I guess I would prefer it if they said “conditionally free”.

38 points by bdz 5y ago

This is a step in the right direction, but no game studio has yet matched the insane generosity of id Software. When they released a GPL-licensed version of the Quake 2 source code, I immediately understood that I wanted to be a developer. I grew up playing the game like sacrament, so seeing such unparalleled benevolence from the devs was highly inspiring for me. All of it makes me fantasize about a utopia where all game logic is open, and what kind of incredible community that might spawn.

MattGaiser 5y ago

I only see 4 patents?

gmueckl 5y ago

Does anyone have the patent numbers? I want to understand the music related patent, but I have nothing to go on other than the one sentence blurb that every news outlet seems to copy verbatim from EA's press release. Google doesn't turn up anything useful for me. Edit: spoke too soon. Just found this article that links to the patents: https://htxt.co.za/2021/08/ea-to-allow-other-developers-free-use-of-patented-accessibility-tech/ https://htxt.co.za/2021/08/ea-to-allow-other-developers-free...

rPlayer6554 5y ago

This seems like a good thing. Especially the ping system....Apex's Ping system is miles ahead of any game. It increases the playability for all players by a tremendous amount.

thisisonthetest 5y ago
Tons of games have ping systems that are comparable if not much more advanced. Dota 2 has had pinging since 2013 and expanded features like a chat wheel in 2017. Idk how patents work but it’s hard to believe EA gets to claim this as their thing when prior art exists
- gmueckl 5y ago
  I think the claim here isn't the fact that you can ping, but that you can do it in context. I haven't played Apex, so I can only go on descriptions that I find online. It seems that the system allows players to convey a lot of information with the type of marker they set from a radial menu. And supposedly you can even even put markers on specific items in dead teammate's inventories to call dibs and stuff. My interpretation is that the system was specifically developed to convey a significant portion of the information that is usually communicated verbally between teammates when in a match.
pests 5y ago
I was recently playing battlefield 5 when it came free to ps now users a few months back... It lacks a ping system and I think it really added to the immersion of the game. There is some recon tech that will mark players for a little but seeing shots being fired at my squad and having to visually find their origin or communicate their location in comms was a nice chance after modern ping systems showing locations exactly and immediately.

andrewzah 5y ago

"It only has one exception: if someone files a lawsuit against EA for infringing a different patent, EA will refuse to share the accessibility patents with them." How nice of EA.

amelius 5y ago
Is this even legally possible? Can you make use of clauses that impede justice?
dogma1138 5y ago
It’s pretty standard for FRAND and other patent sharing agreements.
jcranmer 5y ago
You sound like you'd be surprised to discover that similar patent retaliation clauses exist in popular open source licenses like Apache or MPL.
- sedatk 5y ago
  Tesla released their patents for other car manufacturers with a similar clause too.
munk-a 5y ago
I'm not a fan of EA and I feel like this restriction probably wasn't a strict requirement by legal (while as the opposite might be very good counsel - refusing access to any patented material while another party is believed to be infringing on other IP of your). But like... it's free so either this has no impact on your life because you choose not to use it over it being a potential landmine legally - or you make use of it. Either way I think this move is at minimum neutral and probably a net good.
- andrewzah 5y ago
  It is free, but with conditions. I dislike EA doing this as a publicity stunt while they’re essentially keeping people at their mercy if they use these patents. I guess I would prefer it if they said “conditionally free”.