Frostbite (game engine)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frostbite
Frostbite 3 logo (2013–present)
BF1 screenshot.png
Gameplay of Battlefield 1, which runs on Frostbite 3.
Developer(s)DICE
Initial releaseJune 2008; 13 years ago (2008-06)
Written inC++, C#
Platform
  • Microsoft Windows
  • PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Xbox 360
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X/S
  • Nintendo Switch
  • Stadia
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.frostbite.com

Frostbite is a game engine developed by DICE, designed for cross-platform use on Microsoft Windows, seventh generation game consoles PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, eighth generation game consoles PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch and ninth generation game consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The game engine was originally employed in the Battlefield video game series, but would later be expanded to other first-person shooter video games and a variety of other genres. To date, Frostbite has been exclusive to video games published by Electronic Arts.[1][2]

History[]

Frostbite 1 and 1.5[]

Destruction in Battlefield: Bad Company on Frostbite 1

The first iteration of the Frostbite game engine made its debut in the 2008 video game, Battlefield: Bad Company.[3] The engine was developed with an HDR Audio and Destruction 1.0. HDR Audio allowed differing sound levels to be perceived by the player whilst Destruction 1.0 allowed players to destroy the environment.[4] A newer version of Frostbite would later be employed in Battlefield 1943 (2009) and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (2010), which would come to be known as Frostbite 1.5.[5][6] In the upgraded game engine, it was now possible for players to cause enough destruction to entirely demolish structures.[7] This version was also employed in the multiplayer aspect of Medal of Honor (2010), becoming the first video game outside of the Battlefield series to run on Frostbite.[8]

Frostbite 2[]

On 25 October 2011, Frostbite 2 made its debut in Battlefield 3.[9][10] Frostbite 2 features powerful upgrades such as deferred rendering and real-time radiosity.[11][12] Also making its debut was Destruction 3.0, which made falling debris potentially lethal to the player. Further changes to the engine included the addition of suppressive fire and disabling vehicles before destroying them.[7][13] For the first time in a game that was not a shooter nor developed by DICE, Frostbite was brought to the Need for Speed series with 2011's Need for Speed: The Run, which was released on 15 November.[14] It took a year for EA Black Box, the developer of Need for Speed: The Run, to re-purpose the game engine for driving instead of shooting.[15] On 21 May 2012, DICE rendering architect Johan Andersson said that future personal computer video games running on Frostbite would have to be played on 64-bit operating systems.[16] On 23 October, Medal of Honor: Warfighter became the first game of its series to feature Frostbite in both single and multiplayer.[17][18] On 26 March 2013, Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel became the first third-person shooter and last video game to employ Frostbite 2.[19]

Frostbite 3[]

In March 2013, Battlefield executive producer Patrick Bach announced that Frostbite 3 would not support the Wii U, saying that "the Wii U is not a part of our focus right now."[20] The third generation of Frostbite made its debut in Battlefield 4 on 29 October.[21] In the updated engine, the environments became much more dynamic upon the actions of the players and Destruction 4.0, which was known as Levolution in Battlefield 4.[22][23] On one map of Battlefield 4, it was possible for players to destroy a dam, causing the entire map to be flooded by water.[7] On 13 November in San Jose, Andersson announced that future Frostbite games and an updated version of Battlefield 4 would be powered by Mantle,[24] a low-overhead rendering API co-developed by AMD and DICE.[25] However, due to lack of interest and support, Mantle was phased out, with 2015's Battlefield Hardline being the last game to implement it. On 15 November, Need for Speed Rivals became the second game of its series to use the game engine and the first since the upgrade to Frostbite 3.[26]

First released on 19 August 2014, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare became the first game of its series to run on Frostbite.[27] On 18 November, the game engine made its debut in the action role-playing genre of video games with Dragon Age: Inquisition.[28] On 17 March 2015, Battlefield Hardline became the second game of its series to run on Frostbite 3.[29] On 14 July, the game engine was introduced to the sports genre of video games, being put to use on Rory McIlroy PGA Tour.[30] In November, Need for Speed[31] and Star Wars Battlefront[32] were both released under Frostbite, the 2016 Rogue One X-Wing VR Mission expansion exclusive to the PlayStation VR being the first VR title to use the engine.[33]

On 23 February 2016, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 was released on the game engine.[34] On 7 June, Mirror's Edge Catalyst became the first action-adventure game to run on Frostbite.[35] On 27 September, the game engine debuted on the FIFA video game series, being employed on FIFA 17.[36] Only the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC versions of the game and future installments will run on Frostbite; the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, in addition to the Nintendo Switch version, do not use the engine, which also meant the exclusion of The Journey campaign from those editions.[37] On 21 October, Battlefield 1 became the third title of its series to be released under the third generation of the game engine.[38][39]

On 21 March 2017, Mass Effect: Andromeda was released on Frostbite.[40] Madden NFL 18, the first of its series to be released on Frostbite,[41] was released on 25 August 2017.[42] On 29 September, FIFA 18 was released on the game engine, but the Nintendo Switch version of the game and its subsequent installments will not run on Frostbite.[43] On 10 November, Need for Speed Payback was released, running on the game engine.[44] On 17 November, Star Wars Battlefront II was the last game of 2017 to be released on Frostbite.[45] 2018's Battlefield V runs on the Frostbite 3 engine.[46] In 2019, Frostbite games included Anthem, Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, and Need for Speed Heat, alongside the yearly Madden NFL and FIFA installments.

In 2020, Star Wars: Squadrons is the second VR-compatible game to run on Frostbite, the PC version of the game bringing VR support on PC to the engine. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of FIFA 21, released 4 December 2020, feature graphical enhancements to take advantage of the newer hardware.[47] In 2020, FIFA 21 is one of two Frostbite games to receive major enhancements for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, with Star Wars: Squadrons receiving support for high frame rates and 4K, alongside visual improvements.[48]

In February 2021, following the announcement of a Nintendo Switch version of Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, Frostbite will run on a Nintendo console for the first time.[49] Prior to the game's production, Switch support was added into the Frostbite engine.[50] The 2021 installment of the NHL series, NHL 22, runs on Frostbite (compared to the Ignite engine used in previous installments), bringing it to that series for the first time.[51][52]

Some Frostbite tools, much of it regarding development of FIFA 21 including its source code, were included in a June 2021 leak;[53][54] the contents were released on August 2, 2021.[55]

As of 2021, new installments of EA Sports titles will continue to use Frostbite 3, with Madden NFL 22 and FIFA 22 being the latest titles to utilize it; the only exception to this is the Nintendo Switch versions of FIFA installments, which are being released as "Legacy Editions".

Future[]

2021's Battlefield 2042 is using a new version of the Frostbite engine.[56] The exact version is unknown.[citation needed]

Issues with complexity[]

Frostbite is notorious for having well-publicized difficulties, including its complexity. This led to development issues involving two BioWare games.

In 2017, Mass Effect: Andromeda suffered from multiple issues at launch due in part to the complexities of Frostbite and a troubled development.[57][58][59]

In 2019, sources within BioWare claimed that Frostbite's complexity had also contributed to difficulties surrounding Anthem's development.[60][61][62] Former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn acknowledged these issues in an interview in November 2019.[63][64]

Games using Frostbite[]

Title Earliest release Developer Version Platforms
Win PS3 PS4 PS5 X360 XOne XSeries NS Stadia
Anthem 22 February 2019 BioWare 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel 26 March 2013 Visceral Games 2.0 No Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield 1 21 October 2016 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Battlefield 3 25 October 2011 EA Digital Illusions CE 2.0 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield 4 29 October 2013 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Battlefield V 20 November 2018 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Battlefield 1943 8 July 2009 EA Digital Illusions CE 1.5 No Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield 2042 19 November 2021 EA Digital Illusions CE Unknown[citation needed] Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Battlefield: Bad Company 23 June 2008 EA Digital Illusions CE 1.0 No Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 2 March 2010 EA Digital Illusions CE 1.5 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam 18 December 2010 EA Digital Illusions CE 1.5 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Battlefield Hardline 21 March 2015 Visceral Games 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Command & Conquer Cancelled Victory Games 3.0 Yes No No No No No No No No
Dead Space 2022 Motive Studios 3.0 Yes No No Yes No No Yes No No
Dragon Age: Inquisition 18 November 2014 BioWare 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
FIFA 17 27 September 2016 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
FIFA 18 29 September 2017 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No
FIFA 19 28 September 2018 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No
FIFA 20 24 September 2019 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes No
FIFA 21 9 October 2020 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
FIFA 22 27 September 2021 EA Vancouver 3.0 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Madden NFL 18 25 August 2017 EA Tiburon 3.0 No No Yes No No Yes No No No
Madden NFL 19 9 August 2018 EA Tiburon 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Madden NFL 20 2 August 2019 EA Tiburon 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Madden NFL 21 28 August 2020 EA Tiburon 3.0 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Madden NFL 22 20 August 2021 EA Tiburon 3.0 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Mass Effect: Andromeda 21 March 2017 BioWare 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Medal of Honor (multiplayer) 12 October 2010 EA Digital Illusions CE 1.5 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Medal of Honor: Warfighter 23 October 2012 Danger Close Games 2.0 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
Mirror's Edge Catalyst 7 June 2016 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Need for Speed 3 November 2015 Ghost Games 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Need for Speed Heat 8 November 2019 Ghost Games 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Need for Speed Payback 10 November 2017 Ghost Games 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Need for Speed Rivals 15 November 2013 Ghost Games 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Need for Speed: Edge 10 December 2017 EA Spearhead 3.0 Yes No No No No No No No No
Need for Speed: The Run 15 November 2011 EA Black Box 2.0 Yes Yes No No Yes No No No No
NHL 22 12 October 2021 EA Vancouver 3.0 No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville 18 October 2019 PopCap Games 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes No
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 25 February 2014 PopCap Games 3.0 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No
Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 23 February 2016 PopCap Games 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour 14 July 2015 EA Tiburon 3.0 No No Yes No Yes No No No No
Shadow Realms Cancelled BioWare 3.0 Yes No No No No No No No No
Star Wars Battlefront 17 November 2015 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Star Wars Battlefront II 17 November 2017 EA Digital Illusions CE 3.0 Yes No Yes No No Yes No No No
Star Wars: Squadrons 2 October 2020 Motive Studios 3.0 Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No

References[]

  1. ^ "Frostbite 3 'Battlefield 4' Demo; Engine Will Remain Exclusive to EA Games". Game Rant. 24 June 2013.
  2. ^ "From Battlefield to Mass Effect: How one engine is shaping the future of EA Games". Engadget. 19 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Frostbite: The Engine". Frostbite. Electronic Arts. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  4. ^ "Battlefield: Bad Company". DICE. Electronic Arts. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Battlefield 1943". Battlefield. Electronic Arts. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Battlefield: Bad Company 2". Battlefield. Electronic Arts. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Davis, Justin (19 October 2016). "A visual history of Battlefield". IGN. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  8. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (26 January 2010). "Medal of Honor using Unreal 3 AND Frostbite engine". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Behold The Power of Battlefield 3's Frostbite 2 Engine". Game Rant. 7 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Battlefield 3's executive producer, on balancing realism in Frostbite 2". Engadget. 2 March 2011.
  11. ^ "March Cover Revealed: Battlefield 3". Game Informer. 3 February 2011.
  12. ^ "First Battlefield 3 details emerge". Eurogamer. 21 October 2011.
  13. ^ "Battlefield 3: the five key strengths of Frostbite 2". The Guardian. 23 September 2011.
  14. ^ Purslow, Matt (30 April 2011). "New Need for Speed to use Frostbite 2". PC Gamer. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  15. ^ Stuart, Keith (7 June 2011). "Need for Speed: The Run – game preview". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  16. ^ Nichols, Scott (21 May 2012). "Frostbite engine games to require 64-bit PCs, says DICE". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  17. ^ Gilbert, Ben (7 March 2012). "Medal of Honor Warfighter powered by Frostbite 2.0". Engadget. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  18. ^ "New 'Medal of Honor: Warfighter' Details; Will Use Frostbite Engine 2.0". Game Rant. 7 March 2012.
  19. ^ Hanson, Ben (27 August 2012). "See Inside Frostbite 2.0 And What It Means For Army Of Two". Game Informer. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  20. ^ Sarkar, Samit (29 March 2013). "Frostbite 3 engine doesn't support Wii U, says EA DICE". Polygon. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  21. ^ "The big Battlefield 4 interview: DICE leaves technology behind". Eurogamer. 28 March 2013.
  22. ^ "Battlefield 4: Official Frostbite 3 Feature Video". YouTube. Electronic Arts. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  23. ^ "New DICE video shows how Frostbite 3 makes Battlefield 4 better". Eurogamer. 25 June 2013.
  24. ^ Kowaliski, Cyril (13 November 2013). "Mantle to power 15 Frostbite games; DICE calls for multi-vendor support". The Tech Report. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  25. ^ Altavilla, Dave (30 September 2013). "AMD and DICE To Co-Develop Console Style API For Radeon Graphics". Forbes. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  26. ^ Crecente, Brian (22 August 2013). "Need For Speed Rivals is a living game, and a sign of things to come". Polygon. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  27. ^ Duwell, Ron (10 June 2013). "Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare Runs on Frostbite 3". TechnoBuffalo. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  28. ^ Grubb, Jeff (26 June 2013). "This is what Dragon Age: Inquisition looks like running Frostbite 3". VentureBeat. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  29. ^ "Battlefield Hardline single-player review – police action". Metro. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  30. ^ Mazique, Brian (14 July 2015). "'Rory McIlroy PGA Tour' Review: Gameplay Videos, Features and Impressions". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  31. ^ Reilly, Luke (25 May 2015). "Need for Speed reboot running on same engine as Star Wars Battlefront". IGN. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  32. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (13 June 2013). "Star Wars: Battlefront is "DICE's interpretation of what Battlefront should be"". Eurogamer. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  33. ^ Saed, Sherif (17 August 2016). "Star Wars Battlefront X-wing VR Mission now has a more complex name to advertise Rogue One". VG247. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  34. ^ Machkovech, Sam (18 February 2016). "There's a decent game somewhere in Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2". Ars Technica. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  35. ^ O'Brien, Terrence (10 June 2013). "EA announces Mirror's Edge 'reboot' for next-gen consoles (video)". Engadget. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  36. ^ Morgan, Thomas (17 September 2016). "FIFA 17: How the Frostbite engine improves visuals". Eurogamer. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  37. ^ https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/news/fifa-18-legacy-faq
  38. ^ McCormick, Rich (28 September 2017). "Battlefield 1's creators want you to make your own war stories". The Verge. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  39. ^ "Digital Foundry: Hands-on with Battlefield 1". Eurogamer. 5 July 2016.
  40. ^ "Building Mass Effect: Andromeda in the Frostbite Engine". IGN. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  41. ^ Grubb, Jeff (31 January 2017). "Performance enhancers: Madden NFL 18 will run on Battlefield's Frostbite graphics engine". VentureBeat. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  42. ^ "Madden NFL 18". Electronic Arts. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  43. ^ Platt, Oli. "FIFA 18: Xbox One and PS4 release dates, cost, pre-order, and complete guide as Christiano Ronaldo bags the cover". Goal.com. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  44. ^ Reilly, Luke (2 June 2017). "Need For Speed Payback looks faster, more furious". IGN. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  45. ^ Saed, Sherif (12 June 2017). "Star Wars: Battlefront 2 may be the best-looking Frostbite game yet, boasting various upgrades over the original – report". VG247. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  46. ^ "Hands-on with Battlefield 5: how the small things matter in this massive-scale shooter". Eurogamer. 3 July 2018.
  47. ^ "Here's what's new in FIFA 21 on PS5, Xbox Series X". Polygon. 24 November 2020.
  48. ^ "EA details next-gen enhancements coming to Star Wars: Squadrons, Apex Legends, more". Eurogamer. 5 November 2020.
  49. ^ "Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville shoots up Switch next month". Polygon. 17 February 2021.
  50. ^ "Bringing the Power of Frostbite to the Nintendo Switch". Electronic Arts. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  51. ^ "EA SPORTS™ NHL® 22 Delivers a Breakthrough Hockey Experience Powered by the Frostbite Engine™, Arrives on Current & Next-gen Consoles October 15". Business Wire. 19 August 2021.
  52. ^ "'NHL 22' finally moves the series to EA's Frostbite engine". Engadget. 19 August 2021.
  53. ^ "EA got hit by a data breach, and hackers are selling source code". The Verge. 10 June 2021.
  54. ^ "Hackers Steal Wealth of Data from Game Giant EA". Vice. 10 June 2021.
  55. ^ "Hackers Dump FIFA 21 Code Online After Blackmail Attempt". Tom's Hardware. 3 August 2021.
  56. ^ "Battlefield 2042 hands-on – it's back, and more tactical than ever". The Guardian. 6 October 2021.
  57. ^ "The Story Behind Mass Effect: Andromeda's Troubled Five-Year Development". Kotaku. 7 June 2017.
  58. ^ "The Frostbite Engine Nearly Tanked Mass Effect Andromeda". usgamer.net. 7 June 2017.
  59. ^ "Mass Effect: Andromeda's animation problems attributed to Frostbite, understaffed departments, and last-minute changes". GamesRadar+. 8 June 2017.
  60. ^ Schreier, Jason. "How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong". Kotaku. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  61. ^ "Anthem Development Suffered From The Usage Of Frostbite Engine – Report". GamingBolt. 2 April 2019.
  62. ^ "How the Frostbite Engine Became a Nightmare for EA in General, and BioWare in Particular". usgamer.net. 15 April 2019.
  63. ^ "Former Bioware GM opens up about difficulties of Frostbite engine". gamesindustry.biz. 19 November 2019.
  64. ^ Brown, Fraser (20 November 2019). "The Frostbite engine was too hard to manage, according to former BioWare GM". PC Gamer.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""