Frostbite 2 was built for Xbox 720, PS4

EA's beautiful Frostbite 2 game engine, which was shown off with DICE's Battlefield 3, is just the beginning of what we'll see with next generation consoles.

"I’ll be honest with you — Frostbite 2 was built for the next generation," Electronic Arts' EA Games label Patrick Soderlund told Gamasutra. "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,” he added.

Some upcoming games that are powered with Frostbite 2 include Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and Command & Conquer: Generals 2.

"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 concluded.

Frostbite 2 is easily one of the more beautiful game engines available right now. While Frostbite 2 is an incredible leap in technology, Soderlund insists that the changes are all "gameplay-driven or experience-driven; we just didn't make tech for the sake of making tech".

For me, one of the key features in Frostbite 2 is the destructible environments which allow for emergent gameplay. To this day, one of my favorite memories with Battlefield 3 was me hiding in a building taking out tons of soldiers and tanks from the top of a building…until they discovered my location. Soon after my building was reduced to rubble and I had to change my gameplay.

It's those sort of emergent gameplay experiences that I hope the next-generation of consoles offer. Sure, graphics are great, but gameplay triumphs all.

[Gamasutra]