As Microsoft’s $68.7bn Activision buyout awaits approval, games giant files patent for AI music tech
Back in January, Microsoft released News that it purchased Activision Blizzard in an all-cash transaction of $68.7 billion.
Activision – one of the world’s most renowned developers, publishers and distributors of interactive entertainment – is behind popular game brands like Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Candy Crush.
As noted by Microsoft in January, the deal for Activision, which employs nearly 10,000 people worldwide, would make Microsoft the world’s third-largest games company by revenue, behind Tencent. and Sony.
The acquisition has attracted global scrutiny, however, from regulators in Americaas Englandand European Union.
Meanwhile, as Microsoft and Activision await news of the game giant’s fate from these competition watchdogs, the company appears to have been working on technology that could have far-reaching effects on a certain areas of the music business.
As reported via Chronicles of video games, Activision has been testing AI-generated personalized music creation technology for players in video games.
That’s according to a US patent filed by Activision Publishers in March for an invention titled “A system and method for creating and dynamically adjusting music based on game events, player profiles and/or player response”.
Activision explained in its filing that “Massively Multiplayer Online Games have seen an explosive increase globally in their ability to reach multiple age groups” and “while many features of video games Since elements have become highly customizable, musical elements tend to be standardized across all players”.
Therefore, Activision argues, “yes [a] systems and methods of creating and tuning music that are unique to each player are needed.”
“By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), limitless combinations of music and sounds can be generated automatically to avoid having to manually create music/sounds that then need to be tagged. to broadcast based on different scenario queues.”
Patent Activision
The profile explains that, “By automating what music plays and pitch based on situation, player experience, etc., music and sound can create immersive gaming experiences and more interesting”.
It adds: “By leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), limitless combinations of music and sounds can be generated automatically to avoid having to manually create music/sounds that later that needs to be tagged to play based on different scenario queues.”
In other words, all-new, AI-generated music, eliminating the need for pre-recorded compositions and sounds created specifically for a game or music written by established and established musicians. Recorded by artists, then synced for use in a game.
One question this profile will raise is, what does using such AI music technology for game soundtracks mean for the future relationship between $180 billion the video game business, composers, publishers, soundtrack companies, and the broader sync sector?
Activision’s profile explains that their personalized music can be specifically tailored based on a number of factors.
Some of those factors include “player skill level and/or experience and are based on one or more game events encountered by the player”, as well as “player reaction(s), reactions, player response(s), player input(s), and/or player movement(s) during gaming events”.
“By automating the process of what music is played and how it is adjusted, video games can become more immersive, more enjoyable, and provide players with a variety of customizable features to enhance overall user experience. “
Patent Activision
Application submission continued: “There should also be systems and methods involved in the music created and adjusted to the player’s success or failure during gameplay and using that correlation to improve performance. player performance in future games.
“By automating the process of what music is played and how it is adjusted, video games can become more immersive, more enjoyable, and provide players with a variety of customizable features to enhance overall user experience. “
MBW has long covered the rise of AI-generated music and the impacts it could have on the music business.
One of the most recent celebrity stories comes from South Korea, where HYBE, the company behind K-pop stars BTS, buying AI voice startup Supertone with over $32 million.
Founded in 2020, Supertone claims to be able to create “a super realistic and expressive voice” [is not] distinguishable from real people”.
The company used the technology to “revive” the voice of Korean folk superstar Kim Kwang-seok, whose AI-generated voice later debuted on the Korean TV show. Competition of the Century: AI vs Humans.
HYBE CEO Jiwon Park told The company’s shareholders on Monday (October 17) that Supertone’s technology will “become an important part of the technology sector we want to create” as the company diversifies. their business when BTS took a break to do their mandatory military service.
Jiwon Park added that “HYBE plans to reveal new content and services to our fans by combining our content creation capabilities with vocal and vocal synthesis technology based on Supertone’s AI.”
Elsewhere in the video game business, last year a company called Reactive Music disclosure its own patented technology that allows personalization of tracks and music in real time during gameplay, and claims to want to “completely rewrite [the] rules of music and video games”.
Reactive Music, for which President David Knox spent 26 years in senior global management positions at EA, says it allows any commercial or production track to become interactive with the player in a game. play.
Reactive Music was formerly a subsidiary of Sweden-based music technology company Gestrument, but the two companies recently merged into a single company called Reactive Music Group AB.
Worldwide music business
