Frostbite 2 originally designed for next-gen

The Frostbite 2 game engine--the technology behind Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: The Run--was originally designed to support next-generation games. Speaking to Gamasutra, EA Games label boss--and former DICE CEO--Patrick Soderlund said what gamers are seeing running on Frostbite 2 today is only just the beginning of what the engine is capable of.

"I'll be honest with you, Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation," he said. "That's how we started it. We had that in mind and we said, 'We're going to have to build something that can scale.' It doesn't mean that what you see in Battlefield 3 is the end state. That's the beginning; that's where we start and then we go forward. But we have a tech base that makes me feel really confident in how we're positioned for what's going to come in the future."

Soderlund went on to explain that outsourcing the Frostbite 2 game engine to Medal of Honor Warfighter studio Danger Close can only advance the technology.

"But if we now have the Danger Close guys working on things, they're making some things in Medal of Honor that you couldn't see in Battlefield, taking it a step further," he said. "So for us, they're not only using Frostbite, they're pushing it forward. And then our guys--the Frostbite team--takes the code and decides if these parts are going to get integrated back into the main branch, and then we can use it for more products."

On top of Medal of Honor Warfighter, BioWare's 2013-dated Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will be powered by the Frostbite 2 game engine. In March, Electronic Arts announced the formation of EA Gothenburg, a Swedish shop that will focus exclusively on Frostbite 2 projects.