A Sony patent wants to train NPCs on your own gameplay data

Sony Interactive Entertainment published a patent application on October 1 titled "AI-adapted non-player character for video game system" (publication number US 2026/0295429 A1), filed on March 31, 2025. The document describes a system that collects a player's gameplay data and the game's own data to train a machine learning model capable of generating NPC content adapted to each player's style.

What data, exactly

The patent lists several examples of collected data: the accuracy of your attacks against an NPC or boss, damage dealt and received, combat survival time, which skills and weapons you use and how often, movement habits (dodging, positioning, when you retreat), and reaction time to enemy attacks along with the success rate of dodges, blocks, and parries. The patent specifies these are examples, not an exhaustive list.

What the AI would do with that data

A model trained on this data would generate NPC content so enemies react to actual playstyle rather than following fixed, scripted patterns. According to the patent, training could happen before a session, in real time during play, or afterward. The generated content could go beyond combat behavior alone: an NPC's appearance, emotion, and voice tone, switching its role (ally, enemy, merchant), spawning reinforcements when other enemies fall, or promoting an NPC to boss status. Soulslike games, where boss fights rely heavily on reading fixed patterns, are the use case most often cited by observers as a natural fit.

A patent is not a game

Sony has not confirmed this system is used in any specific game. A published patent application describes a technical possibility the company explored, not an announced project: the vast majority of patents filed by studios and platform holders never turn into a shipped feature. Observers have also flagged a privacy risk if this gameplay data were ever combined with more sensitive personal information, a risk that focusing strictly on in-game actions would limit.

Sources

• Insider Gaming: Sony Files AI Patent To Use Player, Game Data To Train NPCs, Bosses
• CulturaGeek: Sony patenta IA que puede entrenar NPCs y jefes con datos de los jugadores

The bottom line

Sony's patent describes an AI trained on real combat data (accuracy, damage, survival, dodges) to evolve NPCs and bosses based on each player's style, with Soulslike games as the most frequently cited use case. There's no indication any Sony game will actually use this system: like nearly every patent filed in the industry, this one describes an explored possibility, not a confirmed feature.