Zynga Inc.

Jason Samuel McGuirk

Matthew Adam Ocko

Justin Potter Driemeyer

Kevin Thomas Hagan

Darren Ryan Craine

Nicholas John Tornow

Shane Ishmael Sareli

Scott Dale

Miguel Sanchez

Michael J Martinez

Kyle Sauger

Kyle Saugier

Jason Davidson

Shane Ishmaei Sareli

The present disclosure relates to games and applications in general and in particular to computer-implemented online games, such as online role-playing games, playable by more than one person from more than one location. The game engine can search a player's social network to find friends to play with. These social networks can be constructed implicitly by analyzing a player's game play information and other information.

Finding friends for multiuser online games

The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AN ONLINE GAME MANAGER ('OGM') transform user social graph and online behavioral pattern data inputs via OGM components into optimized server computational load reports. In one embodiment, the OGM may process a user server migration request for a user by obtaining user social graph data identifying co-users, and social activity pattern data associated with the user and the co-users. The OGM may also obtain server load indices of servers associated with the co-users, and server load analysis rules. By analyzing the server load indices using the server load analysis rules, the OGM may identify a subset of the servers as non-overloaded transfer candidate servers. The OGM may calculate transfer candidate server scores for the non-overloaded transfer candidate servers using the user social graph data and the social activity pattern data.

Apparatuses, methods and systems for an online game manager

Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for expanding gaming social networks with players having no existing social relationships with other players. One method includes an operation for identifying first filters selected by a first user, the first filters identifying a first criteria for desired new friends. Another operation identifies second filters selected by a plurality of users in the network, where the second filters are entered by each user to identify second criteria for being added as a friend in the network. A plurality of candidates to be added as friends for the first user are determined, where each candidate conforms to the first criteria and where the first user conforms to the second criteria set by each candidate. Additionally, friendship requests are sent to one or more of the candidates or candidates are added as friends when the candidates have chosen automatic addition of friends.

Expanding the gaming social network with unrelated players

In a method and system of sending an out-of-band instant message from a game networking system, an instant messaging system is accessed from the game networking system to send the out-of-band instant message to a friend of the user on behalf of the user, with the out-of-band instant message pertaining to the game networking system.

Sending out-of-band instant messages from a game networking system

The APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A ONLINE GAME MANAGER ('OGM') transform user social graph and online behavioral pattern data inputs via OGM components into optimized server computational load reports. In one embodiment, the OGM may process a user server migration request for a user by obtaining user social graph data identifying co-users, and social activity pattern data associated with the user and the co-users. The OGM may also obtain server load indices of servers associated with the co-users, and server load analysis rules. By analyzing the server load indices using the server load analysis rules, the OGM may identify a subset of the servers as non-overloaded transfer candidate servers. The OGM may calculate transfer candidate server scores for the non-overloaded transfer candidate servers using the user social graph data and the social activity pattern data. Also, the OGM may select one of the non-overloaded transfer candidate servers for migrating the user based on the transfer candidate server scores, and migrate data associated with the user to the selected non-overloaded transfer candidate server.

Methods, systems, and computer programs for expanding gaming social networks with unrelated players are presented. For the player of an online game, one or more selection rules are determined defining a criterion for selecting users. The determined selection rules are applied resulting in a set of candidate game friends, where at least one of the candidate game friends does not have a social link with the player. Additionally, the method includes an operation for presenting the plurality of candidate game friends. An operation to link, in the online game, the player with at least one of the plurality of candidate game friends is then initiated in response to an input from the player. The operation to link may send a request to befriend the candidate, or to link the candidate without the need for permission when an automatic acceptance is in place.

Growing community of inventors

San Mateo, CA, United States of America

Jason Samuel McGuirk