Nintendo is trying to patent some broad Tears of the Kingdom mechanics
This feels like an extremely dangerous slippery slope.
The more patents on gameplay are granted, the more they'll be applied for by big companies who will eventually end up with big patent portfolios they can use to shut down other games from reusing cool mechanics, whether from big companies or indie studios.The potential for killing off novelty entirely (or slowing it down to a trickle) in game development is definitely there long term.This reminds of Cory Doctorow's recent essay on the trend towards owning and extracting rent on things rather than actually producing them[0].[0] https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/