Why Ignite is EA Sports' Answer to Frostbite
New code base makes it easier for EA's sports teams to share innovation.August 22, 2013by Daniel KrupaIgnite is the new technology that will power all of EA’s major sports titles going forward. So far EA has talked about its headline features, such as Human Intelligence and Living Worlds, but it’s hard to really understand what that really means until the next-generation arrives.Andrew Wilson – Executive VP of EA Sports –*realises its hard for players to fully comprehend what Ignite really means to players. “My sense it that it’s going to take a little while for people to truly understand what Ignite can deliver because they’ve yet to play the games,” admits Wilson. “That’s okay – because at the end of the day for us, Ignite is a few key things for us. For one, it’s a technology stack of low-level base technologies: animation, rendering, physics, audio. But at a greater level, it’s actually the process by which we’re going to build moving forward.”Now that all of EA’s sports teams are working from the same engine, it’ll make it easier than ever to pool creativity. This wasn’t so easy in the past. “We actually shared a fair bit of technology overall across our sports portfolio,” explains Wilson. “However, the versions of each technology and the investment that was being made for that technology was somewhat disparate across the various franchises. So FIFA could build something into physics, but Madden would never get it – because they were on a different branch of that particular code base. So what we did this time wasn’t so much about getting a single engine – although that is what has facilitated the fundamental shift we’re about to embark on – it’s we’re all investing in a single code base.“It’s not just about the shared technology; it’s about aggregate investment in innovation now across every team that feeds back in."“So when you think about the multiplier effect you’re going to get in year two or three of five or six or seven different game teams, all investing and innovating on a single code base, and all that innovation rolling back into a single branch which they all start from the following cycle – that’s the real value of Ignite. That’s the value of Frostbite right now; that’s why you see the monumental leap of what Battlefield 4 has been able to achieve. It’s because Patrick Söderlund (EA Studio General Manager) has has all of his teams investing in that main line of code, and we are following the same model.”“So now if FIFA builds something awesome it rolls back into the mainline, and Madden gets it the very next year. If Madden does something awesome it rolls back into the mainline, and NBA Live gets it the very next year. It’s not just about the shared technology; it’s about aggregate investment in innovation now across every team that feeds back in, and that is going to be accelerated for us in year two, year three, and year four.”Wilson is clearly excited by the potential Ignite presents to his clutch of development teams. “I believe we’re going to see some amazing things, as a result of that. I will pit my sports teams up against any other game team in the world. I think they’re unbelievably smart and bright, and deliver great innovation. And I believe Ignite is going to harness that at a greater level than we ever have before.”So far Ignite has been confirmed as forming the basis for four next-gen sports titles: FIFA 14, EA Sports UFC, Madden NFL 25, and NBA Live.
New code base makes it easier for EA's sports teams to share innovation.August 22, 2013by Daniel KrupaIgnite is the new technology that will power all of EA’s major sports titles going forward. So far EA has talked about its headline features, such as Human Intelligence and Living Worlds, but it’s hard to really understand what that really means until the next-generation arrives.Andrew Wilson – Executive VP of EA Sports –*realises its hard for players to fully comprehend what Ignite really means to players. “My sense it that it’s going to take a little while for people to truly understand what Ignite can deliver because they’ve yet to play the games,” admits Wilson. “That’s okay – because at the end of the day for us, Ignite is a few key things for us. For one, it’s a technology stack of low-level base technologies: animation, rendering, physics, audio. But at a greater level, it’s actually the process by which we’re going to build moving forward.”Now that all of EA’s sports teams are working from the same engine, it’ll make it easier than ever to pool creativity. This wasn’t so easy in the past. “We actually shared a fair bit of technology overall across our sports portfolio,” explains Wilson. “However, the versions of each technology and the investment that was being made for that technology was somewhat disparate across the various franchises. So FIFA could build something into physics, but Madden would never get it – because they were on a different branch of that particular code base. So what we did this time wasn’t so much about getting a single engine – although that is what has facilitated the fundamental shift we’re about to embark on – it’s we’re all investing in a single code base.“It’s not just about the shared technology; it’s about aggregate investment in innovation now across every team that feeds back in."“So when you think about the multiplier effect you’re going to get in year two or three of five or six or seven different game teams, all investing and innovating on a single code base, and all that innovation rolling back into a single branch which they all start from the following cycle – that’s the real value of Ignite. That’s the value of Frostbite right now; that’s why you see the monumental leap of what Battlefield 4 has been able to achieve. It’s because Patrick Söderlund (EA Studio General Manager) has has all of his teams investing in that main line of code, and we are following the same model.”“So now if FIFA builds something awesome it rolls back into the mainline, and Madden gets it the very next year. If Madden does something awesome it rolls back into the mainline, and NBA Live gets it the very next year. It’s not just about the shared technology; it’s about aggregate investment in innovation now across every team that feeds back in, and that is going to be accelerated for us in year two, year three, and year four.”Wilson is clearly excited by the potential Ignite presents to his clutch of development teams. “I believe we’re going to see some amazing things, as a result of that. I will pit my sports teams up against any other game team in the world. I think they’re unbelievably smart and bright, and deliver great innovation. And I believe Ignite is going to harness that at a greater level than we ever have before.”So far Ignite has been confirmed as forming the basis for four next-gen sports titles: FIFA 14, EA Sports UFC, Madden NFL 25, and NBA Live.
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