Electronic Arts is making some big changes to its in-house game engine, Frostbite. They’re also changing the logo to show they’re changing. This new logo feels a lot more modest and humble and more like it’s adaptable, so props to whoever made it.
While Frostbite has powered many of EA’s biggest franchises, from Battlefield to Dead Space, the company acknowledges it hasn’t always been the smoothest experience for developers. This is an understatement because Dragon Age: Inquisition dealt with a lot of issues thanks to EA encouraging the Frostbite Engine.
Still, EA wants to partner with studios to understand their needs and tailor the engine to their specific visions. I am shocked they’re barely doing this, but better late than never. A big part of this rebrand is the change in the handprint logo. They removed the sharp, fractured edges of the old handprint logo and replaced them with interconnected layers. This is supposed to be a visual metaphor that emphasizes the teamwork in the studio.
EA has stated in their press release that they’re giving developers the freedom to choose. Based on some of the interviews I’ve read and documentaries on making games under the Frostbite engine, there are better choices.
Unreal is preferred by many studios because it’s easier to adapt genres, which is why many developers have moved to the Unreal Engine. It’s too early to say how this shift will play out but just look at Battlefield 2042 and the new Madden game for how problematic this engine continues to be.
This could be a new start for EA, but I doubt it. If you pay attention to the industry, you’ll see that EA has mostly stayed the same. Even still, we hope that this is the start of the publisher becoming much more respectable – and not just well-known – in the industry.
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