A patent for an esports betting platform has been filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The application was first filed in November 2019, but was made public this month, as US patent laws make applications public after 18 months.
The application said the platform includes, “odds for various propositions concerning the play of a computer simulation are determined and presented to a viewer for pecuniary [real-money] or non-pecuniary wagering purposes”.
While the patent was filed by Sony in 2019, it’s only just been published. From the look of things, it could allow for betting on live matches, such as fighting game tournaments including EVO, which Sony recently acquired. The patent reveals that betting odds for punters spectating would be determined by using the past histories of players/eSports teams.
Apart from that, the betting market may also include prop bets along with game outcomes . An example of the prop bet listed was “that a particular character (“A”) gets hit by a virtual weapon at any time during simulation play and the second that the character is hit within the next minute”.
According to industry specialists, the esports betting market is expected to reach $13B by 2025. The main players in the space are Betway, Bet365 and GG.BET, while the most bet on games at the moment are CS:GO, Dota 2 and League of Legends.
The platform also includes player retention tools such as a system to show bets based on a player’s betting history, as well as functionality such as a cash-out feature.
Sony also said in the patent application that play may be accessed not only through its own PlayStation products but also PCs, smartphones and game consoles from rival brands such as Microsoft and Nintendo as reported by PSU.