EA on the importance of Ignite’s shared code base

EA’s Ignite engine allows the publisher’s studios to invest into a single code base so future games can all take advantage of the same advancements.

Speaking to IGN, EA Sports exec VP Andrew Wilson said it had previously been difficult for teams working on Madden and FIFA to share new builds because they were working on different branches of a particular code base.

He said the the publisher hoped within a few years, the engine would show real value as its numerous teams could use code from other developers, rather than completely starting from scratch.

This means that when the FIFA team builds something into the tech, Madden and NBA could use it the next year, and vice versa.

Wilson also likened the engine to another EA game engine, Frostbite, which he claimed had led to such a “monumental leap” in what DICE has been able to achieve with Battlefield 4.

“We actually shared a fair bit of technology overall across our sports portfolio,” said Wilson on EA Sports’ past engines.

“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.

“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.”