Collaborative online gaming system and method

1. A method for collaborative online gaming, comprising:

identifying a plurality of game servers, at least some of which are configured to allow connections from devices operated by players and at least some of which are configured to allow a new player to join an ongoing game instance, wherein a game instance is an instantiation of a game program executed by a game server and is an ongoing game instance if at least one player is playing, or initiating play, in that game instance;

gathering data associated with the plurality of game servers and one or more players;

storing the gathered data in a database cloud for storing persistent state data for the one or more players and the plurality of game servers;

identifying one or more prospective new players;

automatically deploying additional game instances based at least in part on the number of players in existing game instances; and

matching the one or more prospective new players with one or more game instances executed by one or more of the plurality of game servers, wherein matching comprises:

presenting the prospective new player with a list of game instances, wherein the list includes, for each game instance on the list, a visual indication of a skill level category based on a skill level rating for that game instance, wherein the skill level category assigned to each game instance is determined based on a comparison of a skill level rating of the prospective new player with the skill level rating for that game instance.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gathered data comprises a player rating for each player for at least one game instance and at least two players currently using that game instance, and a consolidated rating for that game instance based on the player ratings for rated players currently playing that game instance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one game server is a game server for a single game and at least one other game server is a game server for a plurality of games.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a player rating for a player is determined based on past performance of that player in previous executions of a game.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically deploying additional game instances is further based on predefined triggers and pre-emptive algorithms.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein matching comprises:

accepting an input of a game instance selection; and

issuing a command to alter the game instance data so that the prospective new player is added as a player in the game instance.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising filtering based on ratings, so as to prevent the prospective new player from joining a game instance when the new player rating and the consolidated rating for that game instance do not meet matching criteria.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein ratings are numerical values, wherein consolidated ratings have associated ratings ranges and wherein the matching criteria comprise a requirement that the new player rating be within the ratings range of a consolidated rating for a game instance before prospective new player is allowed to join that game instance.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein steps are implemented by computer-readable instructions embedded on a computer readable medium that, when executed by an appropriate hardware or software processor, perform the steps the additional game instances are associated with a specific game type of the game program.

10. A collaborative online gaming system, implemented using at least one game server capable of communicating with a plurality of player devices operated by game players, the system comprising:

one or more game servers, at least some of which are configured to allow connections from devices operated by players and at least some of which are configured to allow a new player to join an ongoing game instance, wherein a game instance is an instantiation of a game program executed by the game server;

at least one processor configured with computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

gather data associated with the one or more game servers and one or more game players;

store the gathered data into a database cloud for storing persistent state data for one or more players and the one or more game servers; and

automatically deploy additional game instances based at least in part on the number of players in existing game instances;

match a prospective new player with one or more game instances executed by one or more of the plurality of game servers, wherein matching comprises:

presenting the prospective new player with a list of game instances, wherein the list includes, for each game instance on the list, a visual indication of a skill level category based on a skill level rating for that game instance, wherein the skill level category assigned to each game instance is determined based on a comparison of a skill level rating of the prospective new player with the skill level rating for that game instance.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the gathered data comprises a player rating for each player for at least one game instance and at least two players currently using that game instance, and a consolidated rating for that game instance based on the player ratings for rated players currently playing that game instance.

12. The system of claim 10 , comprising at least one game server that serves a single game and at least one other game server that serves a plurality of games.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein a player rating for a player is determined based on past performance of that player in previous executions of a game.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the player rating used in the consolidated rating for a first game is a player rating determined based on past performance of the player in previous executions of a plurality of game, including at least a second game other than the first game automatic deployment of additional game instances is further based on predefined triggers and pre-emptive algorithms.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further configure the one or more processors to:

present the prospective new player with a list of game instances, wherein the list includes, for each game instance on the list, an indication of the consolidated rating for that game instance;

present the prospective new player with an indication of his or her rating relative to the consolidating ratings of available game instances; and

generate an interface for accepting an input of a game instance selection from a device operated by the prospective new player and for issuing a command to alter the game instance data so that the prospective new player is added as a player in the game instance.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the logic elements are implemented by computer-readable instructions embedded on a computer readable medium that are executable by an appropriate hardware or software processor the additional game instances are associated with a specific game type of the game program.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to implement a method comprising:

identifying a plurality of game servers, at least some of which are configured to allow connections from devices operated by players and at least some of which are configured to allow a new player to join an ongoing game instance, wherein a game instance is an instantiation of a game program executed by a game server and is an ongoing game instance if at least one player is playing, or initiating play, in that game instance;

gathering data associated with the plurality of game servers and one or more players;

storing the gathered data in a database cloud for storing persistent state data for the one or more players and the plurality of game servers;

identifying one or more prospective new players; and

automatically deploying additional game instances based at least in part on the number of players in existing game instances;

matching the one or more prospective new players with one or more game instance executed by one or more of the plurality of game servers, wherein matching comprises:

presenting the prospective new player with a list of game instances, wherein the list includes, for each game instance on the list, a visual indication of a skill level category based on a skill level rating for that game instance, wherein the skill level category assigned to each game instance is determined based on a comparison of a skill level rating of the prospective new player with the skill level rating for that game instance.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein automatically deploying additional game instances is further based on predefined triggers and pre-emptive algorithms.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the additional game instances are associated with a specific game type of the game program.