WO2007141632A2

WO2007141632A2 - Tournament system for multi-player games with dynamic server balancing

Info

Publication number: WO2007141632A2
Application number: PCT/IB2007/001492
Authority: WO
Inventors: Spencer Leonard James Mcnally
Original assignee: Spencer Leonard James Mcnally
Priority date: 2006-06-06
Filing date: 2007-06-06
Publication date: 2007-12-13
Also published as: US20070293290A1; WO2007141632A3; ZA200810334B

Abstract

The number of participants competing in each of a plurality of separate game environments, each simulated by a separate game server, in a multi-participant electronic skill-based game tournament are periodically balanced to ensure fair and equitable gaming experiences for all participants. Game environments may periodically be deactivated to ensure optimal occupation of remaining active game environments. Balancing of game environments may be conducted on the occurrence of predetermined events.

Description

TOURNAMENT SYSTEM FOR MULTI-PLAYER GAMES WITH DYNAMIC SERVER

BALANCING

BACKGROUND

[0001] The applicant's co-pending U S patent application Ser. No. 11/380,452, filed April 27 2006, relates to a handicapping and differential reward system for skill-based games, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Electronic computer and video games have been in existence since the second half of the 20^th century.

[0003] The period leading up to the 1990's was dominated by single player games. However, with the rapid development of the internet outside of academic circles in the beginning of the 1990's and the introduction of the game DOOM (id Software, 1993), multiplayer games quickly gained widespread popularity. DOOM allowed for multiple PCs, each operated by a different player, to be connected in a network and, therefore, for each player to have a character present in a single, simulated game world.

[0004] The introduction of DOOM contributed greatly to the popularisation of a new genre of games called 3D-shooters or First Person Shooters (FPSs). A common characteristic of these games is that the player's perspective is that of a person holding a weapon of some sort and the play, of the game generally involves the killing of enemies which, in the networked form of the game, normally includes other players.

[0005] In addition, the development of the Internet also led to the development of a large number of multiple-player games capable of being played over computer networks. These games made it possible for players that are not physically in the same location to compete against each other in the same game environment. [0006] FPS games and other networked multiplayer games are today played by hundreds of thousands of players simultaneously playing against each other in thousands of separate games played across thousands of game servers. A common feature of all such games is that a limit is placed on the number of players that can be accommodated on each game server. For many such games, such limits may exist because of the high processing burden and / or high bandwidth requirements that each additional player may place on the game server. Occasionally this limit may be further reduced if the game environment being played in is (in virtual terms) too small to accommodate the number of players that the game server would otherwise physically be able to manage.

[0007] The software required to run an instance of an FPS game server is, for the vast majority of modern games, very resource intensive. The result is that, generally, only a limited number of instances of the game server software can be run on any given computer if acceptable performance is to be achieved. This may, for example, be done to ensure that a game server is able to process game data and serve the results to game clients as optimally as possible, thus ensuring the best possible game experience for all players. Common usage of the term "game server" therefore refers to a single computer running at most only a few instances of the game server software for a specific game , each instance of which in turn simulates a single instance of the game environment. For many FPS games it is currently possible to run multiple instances of the game server software on a single Personal Computer (PC).

[0008] A game server can be construed to include both a single computer running a single instance of game server software which simulates a single game environment, as well as an instance of game server software capable of simulating a game environment. In the latter example, it may be possible for a single computer to run a number of instances of the game server software, each simulating a separate game environment. Likewise, a game environment can be construed to include a portion of a larger, composite game environment. [0009] A number of FPS game tournaments have been held in the past and are still being held from time to time. Two forms of these tournaments namely online and Local Area Network or LAN-based are currently being employed. Online tournaments may be characterised in that players may log onto game servers remotely and may compete in game environments simulated by the game servers against other players logged onto the same game servers. LAN-based tournaments may involve the setting up of a large number of game terminals and associated input/output devices over a Local Area Network (LAN) in a single location and connected to one or a number of game servers. Players then gather at the location to compete.

[0010] In both of the above tournament formats players may pay entrance fees which entitle them to participate in the tournaments. The fees may be paid into a pool from which tournament prizes may subsequently be paid. However, as a result of the tournament formats currently employed this alone is generally not able to generate sufficiently large prize pools to be attractive to large numbers of players. Large prize pools are thus usually only offered where one or more sponsorships have been obtained by the tournament organizers. In order to make the tournament prizes as large as possible, it may be desirable that a very large number of participants enter a tournament. The desirability of a large number of participants stems from the additional entry fees that will be obtained, as well as from the fact that more entrants may attract higher sponsorships due to enhanced exposure for sponsors. However, the abovementioned limitations on the number of players that can play on each game server make it impractical to allow large numbers of participants to compete in any one game environment, thereby significantly limiting the number of entrants that may compete in any one tournament.

[0011] Several different tournament formats are currently employed. One of these is the league format, in which each player or team competes at least once against every other player or team. By its very nature, this format cannot accommodate large numbers of players, and thus this format is generally only used as a form of regional or conference-style qualification process in order to determine which players or teams qualify for the finals of a tournament. In most cases, the finals employ an elimination format, in which individual players or teams compete against other individuals or teams in heats or rounds, with the winners progressing to subsequent rounds and the losers being eliminated. In double elimination events the losers drop down to a lower bracket and continue to compete against other losers, while the winners progress through the upper bracket. The eventual final is between the winner of the upper bracket and the winner of the lower bracket An elimination-style tournament thus normally comprises a number of rounds, each of which comprises a number of separate games, played in a number of separate game environments each simulated by an independent game server. This format imposes substantial time constraints on the tournament, once again inhibiting the number of potential entrants significantly.

[0012] Game servers have been treated as self-contained worlds that are independent from all other similar game servers, and hence the players on separate game servers compete only against other players on the same game server, and players are never moved between servers for the purposes of competition. Players could up to now choose to move between servers, but this required that they exit the current game and start on the new server afresh. Generally no score was carried over from the previous game server to the next.

[0013] As a result, current tournament structures for tournaments are generally set up such that a match between two players or two teams must be played to completion before the winner may proceed to the next round where he / they will face another winner from the previous round. As a result, each match is treated as a discrete event and there is no movement of participants between matches during the course of play. One consequence of this is that it may take a substantial amount of time to complete a tournament involving even a relatively small number of players or teams. For example, it is common for 64 team events of this format to take 3 to 4 days to complete, with a similar time period being required for the completion of 256 player individual events.

SUMMARY

[0014] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter. Nor is this Summary intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0015] Embodiments may provide methods of conducting a tournament for an electronic multiple-player game. Methods may include allocating participants in the tournament to a plurality of game environments, allowing participants in each of the plurality of game environments to compete against one another, eliminating a subset of participants achieving predetermined results from the tournament thereby creating one or more open participant slots in the plurality of game environments, and re-allocating one or more remaining participants to one or more of the plurality of game environments according to predetermined rules.

[0016] Additional embodiments may provide a tournament system for an electronic, multiple player game. The tournament system may include a plurality of game environments, each game environment simulated by a separate game server and each game server being inter-connectable via a computer network, a plurality of input devices, each input device associated with a tournament participant and connectable to a game server, and each input device enabling the tournament participant to control a simulated player in one of the plurality of game environment, a display associated with each input device for displaying the actions of the simulated player in the game environment, a processor, and a memory coupled to the processor that stores machine instructions causing the processor to allocate a plurality of tournament participants to the plurality of game environments; eliminate participants achieving predetermined results from the tournament, creating open participant slots in the plurality of game environments; and periodically re-allocate one or more remaining participants to alternative game environments according to predetermined rules.

[0017] Further embodiments may provide methods of balancing the number of participants competing in multiple separate game environments, each simulated by a separate game server, in an electronic, multiple-player tournament for a skill-based game. Methods may include allocating tournament participants to the multiple separate game environments, periodically re-allocating one or more of the participants to alternative game environments when the number of participants in any of the multiple separate game environment drops below a predetermined limit due to participants being eliminated from the tournament, thereby creating open participant slots in the multiple separate game environments, re-allocating the one or more participants whilst maintaining a constant number of game environments when a combined total number of open slots in all the multiple separate game environments, excluding a game environment with the least participants, is less than the number of participants still competing in the game environment with the least participants, and deactivating one or more of the multiple separate game environments and re-allocating the remaining competing participants in the one or more deactivated game environments to remaining active game environments when the combined total number of open slots in all the multiple separate game environments, excluding the one or more game environments to be deactivated, is greater than or equal to a number of participants still competing in the one or more game environments to be deactivated.

[0018] Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description provide examples and are explanatory only. Accordingly, the foregoing general description and the following detailed description should not be considered to be restrictive. Further, features or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodiments may be directed to various feature combinations and sub=combinations^~described in the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0020] Figure 1 illustrates a tournament system for an electronic, multiple-player game;

[0021] Figure 2 is a flow diagram of logic used to manipulate the access of prospective participants to a gaming tournament; [0022] Figure 3 is a flow diagram of logic used to conduct a gaming tournament;

[0023] Figure 4 is a tabular example of a structure used for the increasing of ante values in the various levels of a gaming tournament; and

[0024] Figure 5 is a flow diagram of logic used to rebalance game environments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While embodiments of the invention may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, .the proper scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

[0026] An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to an electronic gaming tournament system and, more specifically, witrr-reference to a gaming tournament system for a First Person Shooter game played by numerous players, each . playing on a personal computer, game console, etc. over a Local Area Network (LAN). Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to LAN-based networks and may be implemented in games played over larger distributed networks such as the Internet. Embodiments of the invention may be applicable to all games in which game environments have historically been simulated on a one-server-per-game-environment basis. Embodiments of the invention may otherwise be applicable where, beyond a certain point, the simulation of additional independent game environments requires the expansion of the system to incorporate additional independent game servers, as opposed to simply configuring one or more existing servers for the simulation of further game environments. Embodiments are hence not limited to FPS games. For example, embodiments of the invention may apply to multi-player racing games, multi-player sports games and the like. The invention is also not limited in its application to electronic computer network games, but may equally be applied in multiple player arcade games and in other gaming systems for conducting tournaments in which large numbers of players may participate. Embodiments of the invention may be applied to multiple player gaming tournaments conducted over mobile telephone networks or other portable or handheld devices, in which case each player may compete in the tournament from a mobile telephone or other portable device interacting with one or more game servers and/or other mobile telephones / portable handsets over a mobile telephone or other network.

[0027] In Figure 1 , reference numeral 10 generally indicates a tournament system for an electronic, multiple-player game. The system 10 includes a plurality of game servers 12a...12n interconnected via a network 14. Each server 12a...12n includes a processor (not shown) and a memory (not shown) on which is stored machine instructions which^' allows the server to simulate a game environment for an electronic FPS game which can be played by a plurality of players. The system 10 further includes a plurality of gaming units 16a...16n each of which may comprise a personal computer 18 having its own processor (not shown), display means 20, which in the present embodiment is a computer monitor, and an input device such as a keyboard 22 and/or computer mouse (not shown). Each gaming uniM6a...16n may be connectable to any one of the servers 12a...12n via the network 14. The network 14 may be implemented using any one or more of a variety of communication configurations including both wired and wireless types. Communication of data via the network 14 between the gaming units 16a...16n and servers 12a..12n may be accomplished using a variety of communication protocols incJuding both public and proprietary protocols.

[0028] The system 10 may further include a central control server 24 having a processor (not shown) and memory (not shown) coupled to the processor, which stores machine instructions for conducting the gaming tournament. In embodiments of the invention, control of the tournament may, however, be handled by a number of servers distributed across the system 10, and not by a single control server 24. [0029] The system 10 may further include a storage facility 26 which is used to store a record associated with each tournament participant. Each record may contain both personal information about the player such as its name, identity number, residential address and the like, as well as game-related information such as the game environment to which the player is allocated and the net value of the player's tournament points balance. Additional records may exist for the purpose of storing information in respect of specified team rosters, also known as dans, such as the names or system identifiers of players who may have chosen to affiliate themselves for the purposes of regularly entering tournaments open only to clans and in which the participants play together and remain together as a team for the duration of the tournament.

[0030] Each of the game servers 12a...12n may simulate a gaming environment within which participants can manipulate simulated characters to compete against each other. In the case of most FPS games the gaming environment may consist of a fixed virtual three-dimensional game world with a pre-defined layout and appearance. In some games the layout and appearance may, however, change dynamically as the game progresses. Each participant may be situated at its own gaming unit 16a...1Sn and may have full control over a simulated character in one- of the simulated game environments. Each participant may interact directly with the environment through the simulated character it manipulates. All participants competing in the same game environment may normally have the same perception of the game environment, even though their individual views of the game environment, as displayed on their individual monitors 20, may at any given time differ depending on the position of the character which they manipulate in the game environment, their health and their equipment All participants may also be bound by the same rules and game physics as dictated by the game environment, which rules and physics may in turn be dictated by the specific game being played. Each participant may also see the simulated characters of the other participants competing in the same game environment on its monitor when those other characters are in the field of vision of its own character in the game environment. A participant may then attempt to kill the characters of other participants by, for example, shooting at them, throwing objects at them, detonating bombs, or in any number of additional ways as allowed for by the specific game.

[0031] The logic shown in Figure 2 may be used to manipulate the access of prospective participants to a gaming tournament. At a stage 100, a request may be made to the control server 24 to allow the prospective participant access to the tournament from a game unit 16a...16n via the network 14, upon which request the server may request the prospective participant at stage 102 to indicate whether it holds an existing participant account or whether it is a new participant. If the prospective participant indicates that it does not hold an existing participant account, the server 24 may initiate a sequence of events at stage 104 during which the prospective participant sets up a new participant account. During this sequence of events the prospective participant may be requested to enter certain identification information including, for example, its name and surname, alias or username, a participant selected password and such other information as may be necessary to authenticate the prospective participant. Once the prospective participant has supplied the requisite information a unique participant record may be created and stored on the data storage facility 26. The new record may contain al! the identification information as provided by the prospective participant. The record may also include a participant's tournament points balance which gives an indication of the tournament points available to the participant.

[0032] After creation of a new participant account, or if the partic ipant indicates that it holds an existing participant account, the participant may be requested to enter its unique username or alias at stage 106 and a password. A participant authentication module may then authenticate the identity of the participant. If authentication is unsuccessful, the prospective participant may be refused access to the tournament at a stage 108. On successful authentication of a prospective participant, the prospective participant may be allowed access to the tournament as a participant at a stage 110.

[0033] In some instances, entry into the tournament may be free and prizes may or may not be awarded. In other instances, participants may pay a predetermined amount of money to enter the tournament, in which case prizes, in money or otherwise, may be awarded to one or more winners. Prizes may bear any relation to the sum of entrance fees collected. Upon registration, the entrance fee (if any) may be deducted from the player's account. Prior to commencement of the tournament, entrants may withdraw their entry in which case they may be refunded any entry fees already paid. After commencement of the tournament, no refund may be possible even if the player subsequently withdraws from the tournament.

[0034] The logic shown in Figure 3 may be used to conduct a gaming tournament At the start of a tournament, each participant may be allocated a predetermined fixed number of tournament points at a stage 200, or in the case of clan tournaments the points will be allocated to the clan instead of to the individual participants. The tournament points may be credited to the participant's or clan's tournament points balance and stored in its participant or clan record. At a stage 202, each participant may be allocated to one of the game environments simulated by one of the game servers 12a...12n so that there is an equal number of participants competing in each of the game environments or, in the case of clan tournaments, clans and their members may be allocated such that there are a specified number of clans in each game environment. The specified number may be assumed to be two clans per game environment. In a clan tournament, tf an uneven number of clans enter the tournament, one of the clans may be chosen to sit out until such time as another clan has been eliminated from the tournament. The clan that was sitting out may then be allocated to the game environment from which the clan was eliminated. Alternatively, entry into clan tournaments may be limited to an even number of clans. A tournament may be split into different levels, and each level may be split into rounds. Each level may last for a defined period of time, within which period of time one or more rounds of the game may be played. Rounds may last for defined periods of time or otherwise until defined objectives are completed.

[0035] At the start of each round, each participant or clan may be required to pay an ante into a pot for that round, at a stage 204, to allow it access to participate in that round. At the start of each level, the amount of the ante to be paid by each participant or clan at the onset of each round in that level may be set. The ante may be paid from the participant or clan's tournament points. A defining characteristic of the tournament may be that the ante increases according to a fixed schedule at the start of each level, at a stage 206. A sample structure for the increasing of ante values is shown in the table in Figure 4. Embodiments of the invention may, however, incorporate additional variations of ante structures.

[0036] The fact that each participant or clan may be required to pay an ante at the start of each round may ensure that all participants or clans actively take part in the tournament. The absence of antes may otherwise lead to participants or clans abusing the tournament system in a number of ways. For example, a participant or clan could choose not to play {by, for example, temporarily disconnecting from the game environment and reconnecting at a later stage) in the early rounds of the tournament and wait for the tournament field to thin out before rejoining the tournament.

Alternatively, a participant or clan could amass a high balance early on in the tournament and then disconnect from the game environment in order to maintain its lead for an artificial period of time. In the most perverse example, a participant or clan may amass a tournament points balance Jn excess of half of the total tournament points in circulation in a time-restricted tournament, and by disconnecting from the game environment it may assure itself victory.

[0037] At the start of each round, a participant or clan's tournament points balance may be inspected at a stage 208. If the participant or clan's tournament points balance has been reduced to nil, it may be eliminated from the tournament at a stage 210. Embodiments may allow for eliminated participants or clans to refresh their tournament points by, for example, paying additional entry fees.

[0038] Even though a large variety of formats of FPS games, all of which may be employed in tournaments, are available, only three of these formats are discussed here. These three formats are clan formats, team formats and individual formats. Clan formats may be similar to team formats, save that in clan formats participants play as members of teams that are nominated prior to the start of the tournament. Furthermore, in clan formats, a tournament points balance may be maintained for each clan in the tournament instead of for each individual. References to aspects of the game relating to the team format can be interpreted to apply equally to the clan format.

[0039] Embodiments employing the team format of the game may allow for any number of teams to compete against one another in a game environment but, for the sake of clarity, a scenario where only two teams compete in a game environment is explained here. In clan tournaments, the clan roster may be nominated and fixed prior to tournament and clans may thus remain fixed for the duration of the tournament. In team tournaments, participants may enter as individuals and may be allocated to game environments by the control server 24. In the latter case, each of the participants allocated to a specific game environment may therefore be divided into one of the two teams, while in the clan format each clan and its constituent participants may be allocated to a game environment and participants remain in the same team for the duration of the tournament. The participants on the two teams may then attempt to kill the characters of participants on the opposing team, and/or may attempt to achieve certain combined team objectives such as capturing the opposing team's base. In the individual format, each participant may attempt to kill the characters of all the other participants competing in the same game environment, and/or may attempt to achieve certain other game objectives which may be determined by the specific game being played.

[0040] At the end of each round, the antes for that round, collected from the participants or clans competing in each game environment, may be distributed to the tournament points balances of the participants or clans in that game environment. How the antes are distributed may depend on the format of the game being played. Commonly, in a clan format, the losing clan's ante may be awarded to the winning dan for that round. In a team format, the antes may be shared by the participants on the winning team for that round. In an individual format, the antes may be shared among a subset of players chosen according to defined requirements with respect to the achievement of objectives during the course of the round. [0041] Some formats of the games may have distinct rounds, each round coming to an- end when all but a specified number of the participants in the game or else all the participants on one team have been killed, or when a player or team achieves the game objective. In this instance, each level may comprise a defined number of rounds of the game or otherwise last for a minimum period of time. Other formats of the game may, however, not have distinct rounds and in this instance artificial rounds may be created by, for example, defining each round as lasting for a finite period of time and defining each level as lasting for a finite number of rounds or for a minimum period of time. In addition, even for formats where distinct rounds may exist, such rounds may take substantial lengths of time to complete and it may thus be preferable to create artificial time-based rounds and levels in order to ensure speedy completion of the tournament.

[0042] In team formats, participants on the winning team may, for example, share equally in the antes contributed by the losing team at the end of each round. Players that did not participate in a specific round or that were eliminated from the tournament during the round may be counted as being on the losing team. In individual formats, a change in participant tournament points balances may, for example, be measured at the end of each round and the participant or participants with the highest points balance increase may be awarded the antes contributed by all the other participants.

[0043] In the paragraphs that follow, references to participant may apply equally to clans as well as individuals. In addition to the antes paid by each participant at the start of each round, tournament points may also be transferred between the tournament points balances of participants on the occurrence of predetermined events during any round. During each round of the tournament participants may attempt to kill opposition characters in a game environment by shooting them or by such other means as are possible in accordance with the rules and physics of the game being played, all the while attempting to avoid their own characters being killed. Depending on the format of the game, the opposition characters may include all the characters of participants on an opposing team or all other characters of all participants present in the same game environment at the same time [0044] When, for example, participant A kills participant S₁ a defined number of tournament points may be transferred from participant S's tournament points balance to participant /Vs tournament points balance. The number of tournament points may be defined by reference to the current level of antes in the tournament, but may also be limited to a maximum of participant S's tournament points balance (TPB_B) if TPBB is in fact lower than the number of points participant A may otherwise be entitled to. In such circumstances, if B were instead to kill A, then the amount of tournament points that S may thus receive may be similarly limited to the maximum amount that A would be able to receive for killing 6.

[0045] If a participant's tournament points balance reduces to zero during any level, the participant may likewise be eliminated from the tournament at stage 210.

[0046] During a tournament, the server 24 may temporarily remove a participant from a game environment when the participant's tournament points balance becomes insufficient. The participant may then be given an option to refresh its tournament points balance by, for example, paying an additional entry fee. If the participant exercises the option it may be returned to a game eπvironmenHo compete further. If the participant, however, elects not to exercise the option, it may permanently be eliminated from the tournament.

[0047] A participant may also at any stage exit the tournamentor may otherwise be disconnected from the tournament prior to completion. This may be done by the participant advising the server 24 that it wishes to do so, at which stage the participant may exit the tournament, or otherwise by the participant's connection to the server 24 being lost. If a participant exits a tournament prior to the end of the tournament while still having a positive tournament points balance, the participant will continue to pay antes, in absentia, until such time as its balance is reduced to zero and it is officially eliminated from the tournament. Until such time as the participant's tournament points balance is reduced to zero, the participant may be free to rejoin the tournament and continue playing. When a participant gets eliminated from the tournament, open participant slots are created in the game environments in which they were competing. [0048] As players are eliminated from the various game environments, the total number of participants in each game environment may become unbalanced. Unbalanced in this context may imply that one or more game environments may have far more or far less participants than others. In order to give all the participants in the tournament the same gaming experience or at least to give all participants an equal, fair opportunity to compete in the tournament, it may be necessary to periodically rebalance the game environments. However, the rebalancing should be done in a way that strikes an even balance with the irritation caused to participants of being transferred between game environments.

[0049] In principle, where participants are eliminated from one or more game environments disproportionately quicker than from the remaining game environments, but not enough participants have been eliminated to alfow all of the participants in the least populated game environment to be re-allocated to alternative game environments, all game environments may have to be rebalanced to bring them back to average. Rebalancing in this instance may be done by taking participants from the most populated game environments and allocating them to game environments with open participant slots.

[0050] Alternatively, where enough participants have been shed from the least populated game environment to allow redistribution of the remaining participants still competing in that environment to alternative game environments, this may be done. In this instance, the game environment from which the participants were redistributed may be deactivated, thereby decreasing the total number of active game environments in the tournament.

[0051] The logic shown in Figure 5 depicts an example of a method that may be used to rebalance game environments according to the principles mentioned above. In order to explain the principles, let G represent the number of active game environments in the tournament, let P^ represent the number of participants still competing in the most populated game environment, let P- represent the number of participants still competing in the least populated game environment, let E^ represent the number of empty participant slots in ail the active game environments excluding the empty slots on the least populated game environment, let E** represent the number of empty participant slots in all the active game environments excluding the empty slots on the most populated game environment, let A represent the average number of participants still competing in the active game environments on a per-server basis, rounded to the nearest integer, let M represent the minimum time limit between rebalancing events, in minutes, let R represent a percentage of the average number of participants competing in all game environments below which a rebalancing may be triggered, and let N represent the number of participants remaining in a game environment below which a rebalancing may be done.

[0052] At a stage 300 the time that has elapsed since the iast rebalancing is constantly monitored. If at least M minutes have passed since the last rebalancing N is determined at a stage 302 according to the formula:

N = AxR

[0053] Once N has been determined, P^ is compared to Λ/ at a stage 304. If P¹ is less than or equal to N then a rebalancing may be done. If a rebalancing may be done, P^ is compared to £*" at a stage 306. If P⁴- is smaller than or equal to £*^■ then the game environment with the least participants still competing may be deactivated, at a stage 308, and the participants in that game environment may be reallocated to the remaining (G-1) active game environments at a stage 310. If₁ however, P^~ is larger than E^, (P^- A) is compared to E^ at a stage 312. If (P**- A) is Jess than or equal to E" then (P^- A) participants still competing in the most populated game environment may be reallocated to the other (G-1) active game environments at a stage 314. The process may then be immediately repeated such that the number of participants in each game environment is again greater than or equal to N.

[0054] The winner of a tournament may, for example, be the last participant remaining after all other participants have been eliminated before the end of the tournament by reduction of their tournament points balances to zero. [0055] As described above, a participant may have to kill the character of an opponent in order to achieve a transfer of tournament points into its tournament points balance. Accordingly, a penalisablβ result may occur if a participant's character is killed. A participant may, however, also be rewarded for inflicting injury to an opponent's character without killing it. The determination of the amount of tournament points to be transferred between the tournament points balances of the players involved may then take into account the severity of the injury caused.

f0056] In certain FPS games, it may be possible for a participant to kill its own character in the game environment. This may commonly be referred to as player suicide. In addition, it may be possible for a participant to injure or kill another participant on the same team. This may commonly be referred to as a team kill. It may be possible for the system to recognise a suicide or a team kill as a penalisable result and the participant may be penalised accordingly.

[0057] In some versions of FPS games, the game server may introduce additional characters in the game environment that are not controlled by other participants, but rather by the server itself. These additional characters are known as bots among players of FPS games and may function in exactly the same way as all human- controlled characters. Bots may be capable of killing human-controlled characters and vice versa.

[0058] Tournaments for games played according to the present invention may speed up the play of tournaments by eliminating players faster, thereafter moving the remaining players between servers in order to keep the servers balanced and the gameplay fair for all players.

[0059] Generally, consistent with embodiments of the invention, program modules may include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that may perform particular tasks or that may implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, embodiments of the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0060] Furthermore, embodiments of the invention may be practiced in an electrical circuit comprising discrete electronic elements, packaged or integrated electronic chips containing logic gates, a circuit utilizing a microprocessor, or on a single chip containing electronic elements or microprocessors. Embodiments of the invention may also be practiced using other technologies capable of performing logical operations such as, for example, AND, OR, and NOT, including but not limited to mechanical, optical, fluidic, and quantum technologies. In addition, embodiments of the invention may be practiced within a general purpose computer or in any other circuits or systems.

[0061] Embodiments of the invention, for example, may be implemented as a computer process (method), a computing system, or as an article of manufacture, such as a computer program product or computer readable media. The computer program product may be a computer storage media readable by a computer system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. The computer program product may also be a propagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). In other words, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium having computer- usable or computer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. A computer-usable or computer- readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. [0062] The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific computer-readable medium examples (a non-exhaustive list) may include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

[0063] Embodiments of the present invention, for example, are described above with reference to block diagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods, systems, and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. The functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order as show in any flowchart. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

[0064] While certain embodiments of the invention have been described, other embodiments may exist. Furthermore, although embodiments of the present invention have been described as being associated with data stored in memory and other storage mediums, data can also be stored on or read from other types of computer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, or a CD-ROM, a carrier wave from the Internet, or other forms of RAM or ROM. Further, the disclosed methods' stages may be modified in any manner, including by reordering stages and/or inserting or deleting stages, without departing from the invention. [0065] While the specification includes examples, the invention's scope is indicated by the following claims. Furthermore, while the specification has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, the claims are not limited to the features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example for embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A method of conducting a tournament for an electronic multiple-player game, comprising:

(a) allocating participants in the tournament to a plurality of game environments;

(b) allowing participants in each of the plurality of game environments to compete against one another;

(c) eliminating a subset of participants achieving predetermined results from the tournament thereby creating one or more open participant slots in the plurality of game environments; and

(d) re-allocating one or more remaining participants to one or more of the plurality of game environments according to predetermined rules.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the game comprises a skill-based game.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each game environment is simulated by a separate game server.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

(e) re-allocating the one or more remaining participants at predetermined time intervals.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) re-allocating the one or more remaining participants to the one or more of the plurality of game environments when the number of participants in the various game environments become unbalanced.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

(f) re-allocating the one or more remaining participants to the one or more of the plurality of game environments when the number of participants in any game environment drops below a predetermined limit.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

(g) re-allocating the one or more remaining participants whilst maintaining a constant number of game environments when a total number of open slots in all of the plurality of game environments, excluding a game environment having the least participants, is less than a number of participants still competing in the game environment having the least participants.

8. A method as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:

(g) deactivating one or more game environments and re-allocating the one or more remaining participants in the one or more deactivated game environments to one or more remaining active game environments when a combined total number of open slots in all of the remaining active game environments, excluding the game environment to be deactivated, is greater than or equal to the number of participants still competing in the game environment to be deactivated.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the one or more deactivated game environments comprise a game environment having the least participants.

10. A method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the predetermined iimit is a predetermined percentage of the average number of participants allocated to all the game environments.

11. A tournament system for an electronic, multiple-player game, comprising:

(a) a plurality of game environments, each game environment simulated by a separate game server and each game server being inter-connectable via a computer network;

(b) a plurality of input devices, each input device associated with a tournament participant and connectable to a game server, and each input device enabling the tournament participant to control a simulated player in one of the plurality of game environments;

(c) a display associated with each input device for displaying the actions of the simulated player in the game environment;

(d) a processor; and

(e) a memory coupled to the processor that stores machine instructions causing the processor to: allocate a plurality of tournament participants to the plurality of game environments; eliminate participants achieving predetermined results from the tournament, creating open participant slots in the plurality of game environments; and periodically re-allocate one or more remaining participants to alternative game environments according to-predetermined rules.

12. A tournament system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the game is a skill-based game.

13. A tournament system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to: re-allocate the one or more remaining participants at predetermined time intervals.

14. A tournament system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to: re-allocate the one or more remaining participants to alternative game environments when a number of remaining participants in the plurality of game environments become unbalanced.

15. A tournament system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to: re-allocate the one or more remaining participants to alternative game environments when the number of remaining participants in any of the plurality of game environments drops below a predetermined limit.

16. A tournament system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to: re-allocate the one or more remaining participants whilst maintaining a constant number of game environments when a total number of open slots in all of the plurality of game environments, excluding the game environment with the least participants, is less than a number of participants still competing in the game environment with the least participants.

17. A tournament system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to: deactivate one or more game environments and re-allocate the one or more remaining participants in the one or more deactivated game environments to remaining active game environments when the combined total number of open slots in all the active game environments, excluding the one or more game environments to be deactivated, is greater than or equal to a number of participants still competing in the one or more game environments to be deactivated. IB2007/001492

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18. A tournament system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the one or more game environments to be deactivated comprise the game environment with the least participants,

19. A tournament system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the predetermined limit is a predetermined percentage of an average number of participants allocated to the plurality of game environments.

20. A method of balancing the number of participants competing in multiple separate game environments, each simulated by a separate game server, in an electronic, multiple-player tournament for a skill-based game, comprising:

(a) allocating tournament participants to the multiple separate game environments;

(b) periodically re-allocating one or more of the participants to alternative game environments when the number of participants in any of the multiple separate game environments drops below a predetermined limit due to participants being eliminated from the tournament, thereby creating open participant slots in the multiple separate game environments;

(c) re-allocating the one or more participants whilst maintaining a constant number of game environments when a combined total number of open slots in all the multiple separate game environments, excluding a game environment with the least participants, is less than the number of participants still competing in the game environment with the least participants; and

(d) deactivating one or more of the multiple separate game environments and re-allocating the remaining competing participants in the one or more deactivated game environments to remaining active game environments when the combined total number of open slots in all the multiple separate game environments, excluding the one or more game environments to be deactivated, is greater than or equal to a number of participants still competing in the one or more game environments to be deactivated.