From Battlefield to Mass Effect: How one engine is shaping the future of EA Games

After crossing under the elevated railroad viaduct that bisects a lush Azerbaijani forest from an industrial landscape, a squad of American soldiers gazes out at the valley that lies below. A saw-toothed horizon of half-assembled buildings juts out in the distance. It's almost peaceful. Hundreds of seagulls chatter lazily overhead, blissfully unaware that the ensuing firefight will leave the seemingly forgotten structures looking somehow even worse for wear. Whole facades crumble under the hellfire of a military attack chopper. A grenade launcher's explosive payload immediately contradicts the seemingly harmless thud it makes upon exiting the weapon's chamber. An enemy scrambles for a new safe haven; his earlier hiding place no longer exists. By scene's end, all that's left are roiling flames and caustic black smoke.

This scene from the Battlefield 4 trailer was how the world, perhaps unwittingly, met Frostbite Engine 3, the next-gen toolset powering all of Electronic Art's non-sports games for the foreseeable future.

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