System and Method for Managing Audio and Video Channels for Video Game Players and Spectators

A method for managing video chat sessions for online video games comprising:

• executing an online video game using an online video game execution engine of a hosting service, in response to input from one or more players of the online video game, the executing includes responsively generating audio and video data of the online video game in response to the input received from the one or more players interacting with the online video game using remote client devices and forwarding the audio and video data of the online video game to respective ones of the remote client devices of one or more players and one or more spectators for rendering;
• and
• establishing, using a chat subsystem at the hosting service, video chat sessions with the one or more players and the one or more spectators to the online video game, wherein establishing comprises setting up a plurality of video chat channels and managing the plurality of video chat channels concurrently, wherein the plurality of video chat channels includes a spectator video channel over which the spectators participate in video chat and a player video channel over which the one or more players participate in video chat,
• wherein managing the plurality of video chat channels includes assigning a priority level to each of the players and the spectators that have joined the corresponding video chat sessions, the priority level used to set a priority for processing video packets received from each of the respective players or spectators.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having program instructions, which when executed by a processor of a server on a hosting service performs a method, the program instructions comprising:

• program instructions for executing an online video game on a server in response to input from one or more players of the online video game, the executing includes responsively generating audio and video data of the online video game in response to input received from one or more players interacting with the online video game using remote client devices and forwarding the audio and video data of the online video game to the remote client devices of one or more players and one or more spectators for rendering;
• and
• program instructions for establishing video chat sessions with the one or more players and the one or more spectators to the online video game, wherein establishing comprises setting up a plurality of video chat channels and managing the plurality of video chat channels concurrently, wherein the plurality of video chat channels includes a spectator video channel over which the spectators participate in video chat and a player video channel over which the one or more players participate in video chat,
• wherein managing the plurality of video chat channels includes assigning a priority level to each of the players and the spectators that have joined the corresponding video chat sessions, the priority level used to set a priority for processing video packets received from each of the respective players or spectators.