New PlayStation Patent Could Be a Game-Changer for Cutscenes

PlayStation recently patented a Translation Language Evaluation Device that could lead to significant decreases in time and costs for game devs. There have been many breakthroughs in gaming with AI-based research, and work like this has appeared before, as companies like JALI Research have shared their work with PlayStation’s now-closed Deviation in the past. Regardless, PlayStation is taking new steps forward on the translation front.

Localization in video games is notorious for extending the development windows of projects that already take plenty of time to finish on their own. Cyberpunk 2077 included lip sync for every language the game had, which was facilitated by JALI Research’s body of work, but the game still took years to complete, including crunch. A new PlayStation development appears to use similar technology, potentially going even further with the ideas presented in the work done by JALI.

Related

New PlayStation 5 Update Is Available Now

PlayStation 5 owners can now download a new system software update, which includes new improvements, features, and more.

Per a report by tech4gamers, PlayStation has patented a new Language Translation device and system that could rapidly shorten aspects of game development if applied practically. Filed in 2023 and published on March 5, 2025, PlayStation has been working on a model that is capable of evaluating the accuracy of translated sentences corresponding to proper facial movements. It’s possible that gamers won’t see this system in use anytime soon, as Sony has created many gaming patents over the years that still aren’t in use. However, in the hands of developers, this could be applied to streamline localization.

PlayStation Patents New Translation Device

The patent’s abstract describes a processor that can systematically detect how similar mouth shapes are to a target string of phonemes, the units of sound a speaker creates. This technology will use its banks of information from before and after a translation to “determine the utterance period of” pre- and post-translation phoneme strings, seeing how far off the final product is from its predetermined assessment and facilitating adjustments to make facial behavior align better. Although this could be used to help with the localization process, there are still unclear elements. Whether this would be used in-house for a specific set of software or applied across a broad set of engines may drastically impact the overall value of this system.

This would be exciting news for even more developers if PlayStation makes this tech accessible across the board, but there are already several PlayStation exclusives that this work could help streamline. Titles like Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and Ghost of Yotei, both hotly anticipated with lengthy development expectations, could simply become easier to make, allowing employees to dedicate more time to different aspects like fine-tuning gameplay. It may take some time, but eagerly awaited PlayStation games could start coming out much faster if the company moves ahead with this tech.