Sony patent reveals PlayStation rewind feature with huge implications

Sony is looking to patent a game-changing controller feature that would allow PlayStation users to rewind their progress at any point.

We’ve all had those moments where you go down the wrong path or make a hasty decision you quickly regret. Similarly, sometimes you just mess up in moment-to-moment gameplay, perhaps setting off an explosion a little too close for comfort or falling off a map in embarrassing fashion. It happens.

Well, poor decisions or mistakes like these could soon become non-factors. Rather than living with the consequences of your actions and learning to improve, Sony is looking to patent a new rewind feature to give players more freedom in backtracking.

As first spotted by Tech4Gamers, Sony applied for a new feature design patent all the way back in April 2023, with the document only just being publicized in October, 2024. This patent outlines plans for a ‘game play rewind’ function with “user triggered bookmarks.”

The patent showcases a number of diagrams detailing how Sony plans to add a new button to future PlayStation controllers. At the touch of said button, players would be able to rewind back to certain points in their gameplay.

When playing through any given bit of software on PlayStation hardware, users would be able to place ‘bookmarks’ – think of it as a different word for ‘saves.’ The system would also automatically place bookmarks too – think ‘autosaves.’

Pressing the new input button on the controller would allow users to instantly backtrack to any given bookmark, though it’s unclear just how far back these can be placed. There’s no telling if bookmarks can be dropped and remain in place for multiple hours, or if the window is much tighter.

It’s also unclear how developers may engage with the feature, if Sony does indeed land the patent rights and follow through with its development. Rewinding key decisions could fundamentally ruin the experience of many narrative-driven games, so a number of studios may wish to place restrictions on the feature’s use.

One far less impactful example mentioned in the filing details how “while playing a quest of a video game, the user may periodically flip back to a bookmark to replace captured image frames that provide details of the quest.”

Evidently, Sony believes there’s a use case for such a feature, and has invested time filing this patent. Though it’s worth keeping in mind, game companies seek to patent a wide range of wild innovations, many of which never actually end up seeing the light of day, so there’s no guarantee the next PlayStation console will include a rewind button on the controller.