This application is for a relatively straight-forward idea. It’s been over a year since its submission, and I found no issued patents that seem to match it. So it is most likely dead.

Though the idea is extremely simple, as virtual world and MMORPG product segments grow, they’re going to start incorporating this idea – SORA has been doing it for a while. It’s an excellent device to keep people tied to the game – especially online worlds accessed through mobile devices.

Sending messages in response to events occurring on a gaming service:

Alerts are transmitted to subscribers to an alerts service in response to events that occur within a gaming environment. Communication within the gaming environment is limited to specific game consoles and the gaming service. A subscriber to the alert notification service can be alerted when a friend joins the gaming service to play a game, or can select other events for which an alert is requested to be sent to the subscriber. In response to any predetermined event occurring within the gaming environment, an alerts service provides an alert or message that is transmitted through a secure firewall and outside the gaming environment. The alert message can be in the form of a pop-up that appears on a user’s instant messaging service, or an email, or a message that is transmitted through a mobile communication service to a cell phone or other portable communication device.

Looks like this patent was intended for an XBox-Live application, and I found some ties between the authors and Microsoft. But since Microsoft isn’t named officially on the patent, I’m guessing it’s not theirs. Does anyone know if MS usually keeps the company name off patents?