It looks like PlayStation might finally have a solution that keeps you in the match without ruining your run. Sony is introducing the soft pause.
‘Soft Pause‘
According to a recent patent filing, Sony is developing a system that detects when you are distracted like checking a text or answering the door and automatically adjusts the game’s difficulty in real time. They are calling it “Soft Pause,” and it sounds like a game changer for anyone who has ever died while trying to reply to a message.
How it actually works
Sony’s soft pause works by keeping the game running but gives you a massive assist. The patent describes a system that modifies gameplay conditions based on your focus level. If you look away, enemies might become less aggressive, their aim could get worse, or the game might even guide your character toward safety automatically.
The idea is to keep you alive during those split second interruptions without forcing a hard stop. The system would also visually highlight the area around your character while dimming the rest of the environment, helping you snap your focus back to what matters the second you look at the screen again.
What about multiplayer?
This is the big one. Traditional pausing is impossible in online lobbies because you can’t stop time for everyone else. Soft Pause sidesteps that problem entirely. Since it only affects your local difficulty or enemy AI behavior toward you, the match continues for everyone else uninterrupted. You get a moment to breathe, and your squad doesn’t lose a teammate.
Don’t throw away your pause button yet
As with all patents, there is no guarantee this will ever make it into a shipping console or game. Companies file ideas all the time that never see the light of day. But given how integrated our phones and real-life distractions are with modern gaming, a feature that acknowledges we aren’t always locked in feels like a natural next step.
Until then, you will just have to keep shouting that you can’t pause online games. At least for a little while longer.