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PS5 could let you easily play user-created content through screenshots

Gabe Gurwin
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Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sharing — whether it be streaming, video clips, or screenshots — has been a huge focus on the current console generation, with Sony even including a dedicated Share button the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller. The importance of user-created content isn’t going away, either, and it appears the upcoming PS5 could even allow you to find and play content in games based only on a screenshot.

A patent application filed in the United States by Sony in 2018 was just published this month, for a feature called “Scene Tagging.” According to the abstract in the filing, the process will allow screenshots and video to contain metadata that is associated with user-generated content in particular games. This would apparently allow a user who finds a screenshot or clip to then immediately jump into that particular piece of content using the game it came from.

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“Furthermore, the metadata associated with the user-generated content would allow viewers to experience the same events that were recorded,” the filing added.

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This ability to jump directly into a specific section of a game is something we’ve already heard about the PS5, but in regards to joining a friend without having to load up a game from the main menu. The Scene Tagging feature bears more resemblance to the “State Share” system that will be coming to Google Stadia.

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Using State Share, players will be able to jump from a streamer’s YouTube content for a game into a completely replicated version of their save state. It is not yet implemented, however, so it remains to be seen if Google can actually make it work properly.

Scene Tagging would likely make it significantly easier to find and play user-generated content in games. Currently, most games with user-generated content require players to search for it by title or some other code. Especially if it’s a video clip you saw and depending on whether you knew the title, it could take a very long time before you’re actually able to play the content you wanted. Of course, you’re likely to find some interesting content that you weren’t looking for this way, which could no longer be the case if the process becomes so streamlined.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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