Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Christopher Paul Dury

Hok Peng Leung

Ethan Zane Evans

Michael Martin George

Michael Anthony Frazzini

Collin Charles Davis

Patrick Gilmore

Francis Xavier Surjo-Subagio

David Hendrik Verfaillie

Michael Anthony Willette

Richard Bantegui

Geoffrey Scott Pare

Christopher David Byskal

Zane Grey Reynolds

A game spectating system that leverages game metadata to allow spectators to join or 'step into' games being broadcast. Broadcast content may include user interface elements via which spectators can order, purchase, or otherwise obtain demo or full versions of games. Game client software and game data may be obtained and downloaded to the spectator's devices via the spectating system interfaces and broadcast streams. Spectators can order, purchase, or otherwise obtain characters, avatars, and gear for participation in particular games. Using the spectating UI to obtain the game client software, game data, characters, and gear via the broadcast streams, the spectators may join live game sessions of online games, start new game sessions, and/or replay previously recorded game sessions.

Joining games from a spectating system

Resources for hosting game sessions can be dynamically selected based upon factors in addition to availability and capacity. A requested session may have various criteria enabling it to be hosted on different types of resources, such as different types of resource instances operating on physical servers. While a fixed amount of capacity can be purchased over an extended period of time, options can also exist that enable purchasing resource capacity for a limited period of time, or purchasing excess capacity without a fixed time limit but that is subject to potential interruption. Benefits relating to cost and performance may offset these potential limitations, and the selection of a type of resource to host a game can be based upon an analysis of these factors. If a game session is to be interrupted or will time out, advance notice can be provided such that the game can take a corresponding action.

Resource selection for hosted game sessions

A game spectating system that provides interfaces and methods for providing game content to viewers. The spectating system obtains game metadata from game systems for games being broadcast by the spectating system according to the API, and generates broadcast content based at least in part on the game metadata. The broadcast content includes user interface (UI) elements for obtaining virtual or physical objects corresponding to the game content. The broadcast content is provided to spectator devices with the broadcasts. The spectating system receives indications of spectators' interactions with the broadcast content from the spectator devices including interactions requesting the virtual or physical objects, and facilitates provisioning or delivery of the objects to respective spectator devices or spectators.

Game content interface in a spectating system

A spectating system that leverages game metadata and/or broadcast metadata to provide rewards to or otherwise acknowledge participants in broadcasts. The system may analyze the metadata to detect events or other information about broadcasts, and may recognize and/or reward participants based at least in part on the analysis. Spectators may be rewarded for participating in broadcasts, or in particular events in broadcasts. Broadcasters may be rewarded for in-game achievements or for achieving levels of audience participation or support. Participants may select or vote on other participants to receive rewards. Rewards may, for example, include acknowledgement of participants via the user interface, virtual items such as in-game virtual gear, physical items such as game-related merchandise, and granting of benefits or privileges by the spectating system and/or game system such as special content for a broadcaster's channel.

Participant rewards in a spectating system

A spectating system that generates game inputs based on spectator inputs and interactions, and provides the game inputs to game systems according to an application programming interface (API). The spectating system may allow spectators to interact with and affect a game being broadcast via inputs to and interactions with user interface (UI) elements presented on the spectating UI. Spectators may affect or influence the game, objects within the game universe, events within the game, or the players in the game via the UI elements on the spectating UI. The spectators may become involved in the games being broadcast by influencing game play via the spectating inputs. Game play for the players may be enhanced by providing interesting variations in game play based on the spectating inputs.

Spectator interactions with games in a specatating system

Techniques for wait time based scaling of content item instances are described herein. In some examples, a customer of a computing service provider may select a wait time threshold for joining one or more of the customer's content items that are hosted by the computing service provider. When a joining user logs-in and requests to join a content item, a calculation may be made regarding an estimated wait time for the user to join one or more existing content item instances. The estimated wait time may then be compared to the wait time threshold. A determination may then be made regarding whether or not to launch a new content item instance in response to the user's join request. In some examples, this determination may be based, at least in part, on the comparison of the estimated wait time to the wait time threshold.

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Bellevue, WA, United States of America

Christopher Paul Dury