System and method for configuring game data about players

Abstract

Information is shared among users in a system by the use of a service. The service receives information from at least two different game applications that each have a configuration file (defined with a common schema) that defines information from the game application to share with a service. An intermediary program executing on a computer that is also executing one of said game applications receives information from the application as defined by said configuration files and stores at least a portion of the information received from the application. At least a portion of the information is sent to the service when the intermediary is in communication with the service over a network wherein the service provides information about a user of said at least two game applications based on information received by said service.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for sharing information from game applications among users, comprising:
 a service configured to receive configuration information for a game application, the configuration information describing achievements for the game application, the achievements including pre-defined achievements and game-specific achievements; and   the service configured to transmit a user profile comprising the achievements organized within the user profile on a game-by-game basis to users of the service.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , the achievements including a description of the achievement and a trophy image. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , the achievements earned during game play for completing in-game events. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , the configuration information confirming to a common schema. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , the pre-defined achievements derived from default values of the common schema to be common to each of a plurality of game applications of differing type, the game-specific achievement not common to each of the plurality of game applications. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , the service configured to receive configuration information for a plurality of game applications of differing type, the configuration information describing achievements for the plurality of game applications of differing type. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration information comprises XML content. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , the service configured to store the configuration information on a network-accessible server as part of the user profile. 
     
     
         9 . A method for sharing information from game applications among users, comprising:
 receiving configuration information for a game application, the configuration information describing achievements for the game application, the achievements including pre-defined achievements and game-specific achievements;   storing the configuration information on a network-accessible server as part of a user profile; and   transmitting a user profile comprising the achievements organized within the user profile on a game-by-game basis to users of the service.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , the achievements including a description of the achievement and a trophy image. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , the achievements earned during game play for completing in-game events. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , the configuration information confirming to a common schema. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , the pre-defined achievements derived from default values of the common schema to be common to each of a plurality of game applications of differing type, the game-specific achievement not common to each of the plurality of game applications. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising receiving configuration information for a plurality of game applications of differing type, the configuration information describing achievements for the plurality of game applications of differing type. 
     
     
         15 . An article of manufacture comprising a storage medium containing instructions that when executed enable a system to:
 receive configuration information for a game application, the configuration information describing achievements for the game application, the achievements including pre-defined achievements and game-specific achievements, the achievement earned during play for completing in-game events; and   transmit a user profile comprising the achievements organized within the user profile on a game-by-game basis to users of the service.   
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 15 , the achievements including a description of the achievement and a trophy image. 
     
     
         17 . The article of  claim 15 , the configuration information confirming to a common schema. 
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 17 , the pre-defined achievements derived from default values of the common schema to be common to each of a plurality of game applications of differing type, the game-specific achievement not common to each of the plurality of game applications. 
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 15 , comprising instructions that when executed enable a system to receive configuration information for a plurality of game applications of differing type, the configuration information describing achievements for the plurality of game applications of differing type. 
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 15 , wherein the configuration information comprises a tag-based schema.