Automated player control takeover in a video game

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• under the control of a computer system comprising computer hardware, the computer system configured with computer executable instructions:
• initiating an instance of a multiplayer video game, wherein the instance of the multiplayer video game includes a plurality of virtual entities interacting in a virtual environment, wherein a first player computing device initially controls a first virtual entity, and wherein at least one additional virtual entity other than the first virtual entity is initially controlled by one or more other player computing devices;
• while the instance of the multiplayer video game is in a first game state, receiving player control commands from at least the first player computing device;
• generating a first updated game state for the instance of the multiplayer video game based on at least the player control commands;
• providing information associated with the first updated game state to the one or more other player computing devices;
• detecting a control input problem associated with the first player computing device, wherein the control input problem comprises an unexpected lack of control commands originating from the first player computing device over a time period, wherein the unexpected lack of control commands originating from the first player computing device are determined to be unexpected based at least in part on game state information associated with the first virtual entity during the time period;
• based on the control input problem, determining an emulated control command with respect to at least the first virtual entity based on the first updated game state and a player imitation model, wherein the player imitation model comprises a trained model configured to receive a current game state of the multiplayer video game as input and to output an in-game action or command based on previously observed player behavior;
• generating a second updated game state for the instance of the multiplayer video game based on at least the emulated control command;
• and
• providing information associated with the second updated game state to the one or more other player computing devices.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions that, when executed, configure a computing system to perform operations comprising:

• initiating an instance of a multiplayer video game, wherein a first player computing device initially controls a first virtual entity in the multiplayer video game, and wherein at least one additional virtual entity other than the first virtual entity is initially controlled by one or more other player computing devices;
• while the instance of the multiplayer video game is in a first game state, receiving player control commands from at least the first player computing device;
• generating a first updated game state for the instance of the multiplayer video game based on at least the player control commands;
• providing information associated with the first updated game state to the one or more other player computing devices;
• detecting an unexpected lack of control commands originating from the first player computing device over a first time period, wherein the unexpected lack of control commands originating from the first player computing device are determined to be unexpected based at least in part on first game state information associated with the first virtual entity during the first time period;
• based on the unexpected lack of control commands, determining an emulated control command with respect to at least the first virtual entity based on the first updated game state and a player imitation model, wherein the player imitation model comprises a trained model configured to receive a current game state of the multiplayer video game as input and to output an in-game action or command based on previously observed player behavior;
• and
• generating a second updated game state for the instance of the multiplayer video game based on at least the emulated control command.