EA Sports revealed its brand new next-gen game engine Ignite at the Xbox One reveal event on Tuesday and claimed that it will blend new technology with the best rendering, run-time physics, animation, intelligence, locomotion, and online systems from across EA into one powerful, new engine. However, here's the catch - Ignite will not be used to power its latest football title FIFA 14, on PC.
Talking to Joystiq, EA Sports' global communications manager Steve Frost says the engine will power FIFA 14 on Xbox One and PS4, but not the home computer version of the game. "Ignite will be the engine that drives our sports games on PS4 and Xbox One," Frost says. "It will not be used for FIFA 14 on PC."
As the publisher announced on the Xbox One stage, the next-gen engine also runs Madden NFL 25, EA Sports UFC and NBA Live 14. However, Frost admitted that the reveal footages shown at the event were pre-rendered. "The video uses assets pulled directly from the in-game engines, and was rendered to create this first look multi-product trailer," he says. "It's representative of where we expect our games will be when they launch."
EA's communications specialist Brad Hilderbrand also acknowledged that the reveal trailer was created using pre-rendered footage. "Yes, given the timing and planning required for the Xbox One reveal event the EA Sports Ignite video was developed in a pre-rendered video format," Hilderbrand says.
EA Sports did not specify why the new engine won't be used for the PC version nor is there any clarification on whether this policy will apply to other PC titles in its sports range.
However, Hilderbrand promised a detailed look at the new engine at the upcoming E3 and says, "We'll be showing off the game using in-game assets at E3."
