Now the Nintendo Switch is a proven success after being on the market for nearly two years, more companies are open to the idea of porting bigger and better games to the system. Third-party industry giant EA looks as if it might also be upping its game.
According to NintendoSoup, a Youtuber by the name of Doctre81 has made an interesting discovery on an EA Software Engineer's LinkedIn webpage. The profile - not publicly revealed - shows how the individual has been working on bringing existing software development kits to the Nintendo Switch. EA's Frostbite engine is not directly referenced, but the user goes on to state how they have worked on SDKs that have previously been used in Battlefield V and Anthem.
FIFA games on Switch are currently running on a custom-made engine. If this profile page is accurate, it suggests EA could be bringing Frostbite engine support to the Switch and games such as FIFA on the system would utilise the same engine as the Xbox One and PS4 counterparts. There's also speculation this could result in other Frostbite games on the Nintendo hybrid platform in the future.
In 2017, EA's FIFA lead Andrei Lazaresu said the team opted with a custom-made engine on the Switch as it didn't want the new FIFA game at the time to run on a lower-quality version of the Frostbite engine:
"We intentionally chose to do a custom engine because we felt that rather and try and get Frostbite running and end up having to downsize things and making it just a smaller, lower-quality version of the PS4 and Xbox One versions, we wanted this to be a FIFA that stands on its own two feet."
Perhaps EA has since worked out a way to get this engine up and running on the Switch with fewer compromises.
What do you think? Would you like to see the Frostbite engine running on the Switch and potentially more games from EA? Tell us below.
[source nintendosoup.com]
Comments 86
Oh, EA.....
Could you port The Sims 4 to Nintendo Switch pretty please ?
....Whatever, don't really care what EA is doing anymore.
Took EA a hell of a while to realize they're losing a lot of money by not supporting the Switch with their shooters. Lol.
Doesn't really matter. They don't get any of my money anyway and will not get any in the future. Hope a lot of people do the same.
EA needs the full engine to render all their loot boxes. Without it consumers may see through their gaming charade and realize it is just gambling targeting kids.
I would like to see EA bring their back catalogue to Switch. Mass Effect, Dead Space, Burnout and Mirror's Edge. But I'm just not interested in microtransactions or loot crates.
More support is always a good thing, even from companies like EA. I feel like the people hating & boycotting EA are the same people complaining about a lack of third party support on Nintendo Switch.
I guess as a casual observer of the under the hood aspects of gaming, I’m aware that this is a good thing. I just don’t know what it means execution wise. More importantly, what games can and will they realistically bring over to the Switch with this development
If possible, Can you please get PvZ GW2 or PvZ GW3 on Nintendo Switch?
It appears Most nintendo fans either don't care or don't like EA.
Edit: Nvm. I Just misread what i said, I will just play PvZ GW2 on my PS4 Instead of having it on Nintendo Switch.
Meh i dont to much care bout EA games. They will probably just release sport games on Switch.
@Joeynator3000 agreed. Some American companies has a history of Grudge toward Japanese Developers like Nintendo.
No thanks. I’ll pass.
This could of course also be about a mobile port/fork of Frostbite, called Frostbite Go, since that already runs on smart devices, so that should theoretically also fit quite nicely on the Switch.
That's nice but I'm not really interested, EA is one the few developers that I avoid supporting. Their business practices are just terrible, I get that they want to make money but at least give us good products!
if I run nintendo, I Would tell Electronics Arts to cut the Micro-transaction crap because their obsession with money is not good for my service, I wonder if you can run Nintendo... would you be willing trade what unused company for different EA companies like Maxis or Popcap or whatever? Maxis and Popcap fits Nintendo (please don't be Like "We're America so we hate Japanese" attitude for them)
I couldn't care less about EA games anymore TBH. They are the reason why garbage microtransactions and lootboxes are so prominent in this industry. If it weren't for FIFA and Madden, they would legitimately be struggling, with weak sales for almost every non-FIFA/Madden game they have released over the last 2 years.
But the Switch is selling so well that it's kinda hard for them to ignore it, custom FIFA game aside.
@CirnoTheFairy1
But, 12 years ago during Wii & NDS era, EA was so intimate with Nintendo. Let's say EA games on Wii & NDS are MySims series, SimAnimals, Spore Heroes, SimCity, The Sims 3 + Pets, Littlest Pet Shop series, Charming Girl Club, EA Playground, EA active, Boom Blox, etc. And remember, MySims series on Wii & NDS was so Japanesque despite created by Western peoples (with helps from some Japanese peoples)
But now, EA was so COLD with Nintendo after Wii U's failure, like EA supports Nintendo Switch by Half-hearted feeling.
@Anti-Matter oh right. it makes sense because EA was used to love Nintendo but then Wii U Came, so EA HATED Nintendo but then Nintendo Switch comes, Maybe they changed their mind. but now, I'd only care if PvZ GW2 was made available on Nintendo switch.
Should say "Now THAT the Nintendo Switch is a proven success after being on the market for nearly two years"
Happy 2019, make a resolution to proofread before posting an article
They better do something. Because at this point they are leaving money on the table. I know I wont buy another NHL until it goes to Switch. They have seen two years of solid and sometimes record breaking Switch sales. Some suit in EA has got to be traumatized by the missing money source. I will be surprised if we don’t at least see a version of madden next year.
I would love to see frostbite engine on the Switch and a real Fifa with all PS4-XB1 modes. Hope they can do it with few compromises. Hope we hear something about it soon.
I think all the EA games Id want would be PS360 ports. Battlefield BC 1&2, Dead Space trilogy + Extraction, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age would be nice too.
As for modern EA....meh. They should really bring Madden over though. It just doesn't seem like EA has put out a really solid non sports game in a while(Andromeda and both Battlefronts were colossal disappointments in most eyes).
I get the hate for EA. I think I hate them as much as the next person
But if you’re going to boycott the entire company full stop, you’re going to need to boycott Activision, Ubisoft, Warner Bros, and even Capcom. It’s just not a feasible solution.
The better approach is to boycott individual games that cross the line.
But there are plenty EA games (namely 7th gen ports) that are perfectly acceptable that I would not hesitate to buy on Switch.
Only EA game I would care about is Madden. Please give me Madden on Switch.
NHL and the Mass Effect Trilogy on Switch would be so awesome. Make it happen EA.
First game, StarWars Battlefront 2. Got to make some money off that bomb =P
There are a lot of 360/PS3 EA games I'd like to see ported to the Switch. Mass Effect trilogy, Dead Space trilogy, Dragon Age, etc. But EA has been an awful company for too long for me to care about what they may or may not be developing for Switch.
Not Welcome Here!
I'll wait until they actually decide to give us video games, as opposed to glorified casinos.
EA is cancer and hasn’t done anything decent since the PS2/Xbox/GameCube generation.
More likely they will port old frostbite games like Battlefield 3 to Switch. It's a PS3/360 game, should run fine on Switch.
They get a lot of flak, but I really enjoyed Battlefield 1 & the first Battlefront - even the single player content. If they can manage putting out games on a system that isn't always online, then maybe this will add incentive to offer some singleplayer games in the frostbite engine. And after Battlefront II, I expect executives to be a lot more invested in making sure future lootcrates don't affect player power or progression. Players spoke with their wallets, finally. And with Disney intervening, it was enough.
I wonder why they started? Could it be the massive success of the switch?
No that can't be. EA is such a good company. They love gamers and want everyone to be able to be equal and united. Nothing to do with money.
SMH yea I ain't buying anything from EA.
I see so many people saying that EA has not pumped out a good game in years. I doubt whether these people have played Unravel 1/2 or A Way Out.
...although neither of those two use the Frostbite Engine lol
EA is more than welcome.
Sims?
And any shooter would do. I would love for A way out to appear on switch!
@ieatdragonz
haha you beat me to it.
i would love for: A Way out on switch. Beautiful co-op game
The only games they have, that I like, are the Mass Effect Trilogy.
I know its pie in the sky but I would love a new Road Rash, and no in my opinion Road Redemption didn't count lol!
Just give us The Sims and Plants vs. Zombies please.
Called late party goer and now finds that they been screwing over Switch now come crawling back. Typical
As much as I would love The Sims to return, I am only interested in complete standalone games. I'm not interested in a single base game with all of the add-on content being locked to a single console/account that will be inaccessible in the future.
I still play the first two Sims games on PC (as well as the Stories series) as they can be played without an internet connection. The Sims 4 expansions aren't even shipped on discs anymore which rules out any inclination that I may have had to eventually collect all of The Sims 4 games.
I went from being the most diehard and loyal Sims customer to one that no longer looks twice at it. Only EA can completely destroy that kind of goodwill from their most loyal customers. I was buying virtually every PC instalment and every handheld/console instalment for every system that I had. Fast forward to today, and I haven't bought a Sims game in over 7 years.
@The-Chosen-one Those games aren't EA games. They fall under the EA Originals banner. Basically, EA helps funds and market indie produced games like Unravel 1 & 2 and A Way Out but doesn't make any profits from the sales. That's all they are doing.
The only thing I want from EA at this point is the Mass Effect Trilogy. Not that Andromeda nonsense, just Mass Effect 1-3 with all the DLC in one collection release.
If true, should finally mean Madden makes it over. I’d expect Plants v Zonbies too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite_(game_engine)
Its a good thing consoles are one of the few things EA can touch that doesn't get the life sucked out of it until it dies.Its come to the point that every time I play an old 5th or 6th Gen game and see the EA logo I'm genuine shocked that EA once published a variety of actual games.
In short, good for 3rd party support I guess but honestly I just hope they don't stink up the joint.
If EA releases good games i dont mind spending money.
Those lootbox things didnt effect me because i havent played a EA game in years, bought fifa 18 last summer for 20 bucks on eshop but play it very rarely.
But i did like Def Jam 1 and 2, Need for Speed U2 and other games. Many EA games i havent played and new games are always welcome (without the scams).
@JaxonH The only good games I would buy on Switch, would be older games like the Mass Effect games.
All new games from EA are garbage filled with Micro Transactions and Loot boxes.
Got no issue with people not liking EA and there practices. But not liking EA and still happy to buy ubisoft and Activision games is so contradictory. Both publishers are just as bad
@Velocirapstar This highly depends on what exactly they bring over, and is highly subjective. Will EA's support help Nintendo's bottom line? Yeah, probably. Will it be what us commenters want, proabably not, for the most part.
Are we hypocrites for wanting 3rd party support, but shunning EA? Not really, considering we're often ecstatic about big name ports and releases on the Switch. The problem is that EA doesn't like giving you an actual full game, without aggressive monetization, anymore.
I mean, I wouldn't mind some of their back-catalogue. But I doubt that's what we'd be getting. What we'd probably be getting are their heavily monetized shooters and sports games, with lootbox mechanics that may be classed as gambling in the near future. So excuse some of us for being incredulous.
Just a port of Burnout Paradise, please EA.
This seems like a bit of a stretch, if it just comes from that one profile page. That switch comment could simply be about the engine that fifa on switch runs on for instance.
NHL, please. Waiting so long for this game (last played 2007 version on PSP).
@kobashi100 That's assuming we've all been giving Ubisoft and Activision a free pass. I haven't, I've been avoiding most of their games too. But even though I dislike them overall. They have provided games that weren't aggressively monetized or picked apart for DLC, and that I want. So I support that with my money.
I got Rayman, Mario and Rabbits, and N-sane trilogy because they were full games, without microtransactions. If EA gives me the same, I'll buy it. But I have my doubts about what they'll bring over.
There aren't all that many games that run on Frostbite. So we can expect older games for full retail price on the Switch? No thank you. Or is EA going to make Switch exclusives all of a sudden? I doubt it.
would like to see sims 3 (way better than sims 4 in my opinion) but only if all the dlc was included (or at least all the big dlcs) for one price preferably not too overinflated
Would have been nice if Evil Arts went bankrupt
@Regpuppy Activision sure. I agree. They are micro transaction / Loot box crap too.
Ubisoft actually has released some great games on the Switch, like Mario Rabids and if you like it or not, Starlink. Which is also a decent game with a nice fanservice for Star Fox fans. With the sale recently, you could unlock all ships and weapons for little money. So Ubisoft isn't that aggressive yet with Monetization like EA and ActiVision are.
I love all the hate, it cracks me up.
EA franchises Ive enjoyed; Dead Space, Mass Effect, Need For Speed, Madden, Battlefield, Unravel. That’s a good amount of individual games, and I was never pushed into ‘the evil abyss of micro transactions’ 😂
@Velocirapstar I hear that. And what’s this about EA not supporting Wii U? I’ve got Mass Effect 3, and I saw some sports and Need for Speeds on the shelf at the store the other day.
@zionich I love that game. I actually love it, unlike anyone else in the world, but they fixed the whole microtransactions issue (I definetly don't support what they did in the first place) and got it an xbox at release only because i hadn't got my PC yet. They have a deal going on right now where it's only $5 on origin so finally picked it up on my PC as well and I'm enjoying it a lot so far
yawn Why would I want to support EA after they have barely managed to put out 3 games on the Switch?
Well.... I don't buy into EA games. But good for them who are anticipated on buying their games (I guess)..
@MasterJay That's good to hear. It was definitely a first impressions because of all the pay to win that just made me write it off.
Does it have a big community?
@Jeronan While they may not not be as bad. They still dip into aggressive monetization, up to and including lootboxes. They just don't do it in as many of their games as EA yet. So I can't just give them a free pass.
Granted, they still release some decent games, like Starlink. But they have also put in lootboxes in games lije trials rising and have gone on record defending the use of lootboxes.
If they lower the resolution to, like, 240x160 and downsample textures to 64x64*8bit, it should run at ~20 FPS just fine.
Cya
Raziel-chan
I just want a portable Mass Effect trilogy / Dragon Age. Whatever makes these more feasible, I’m all for.
@CirnoTheFairy1 a business obsessed with money.. Who'da thunk it?
@zionich Not really sure about the community size, I haven't played online in a while
You will get no breath-holding from me, EA...
They'd be a little silly to NOT attempt porting over the engine. I'd be surprised if one of the technicians hadn't been on the case for quite a while already, if not as part of his job description, then as a self-imposed challenge.
I moved to switch to get away from EA and their loot boxes - no thanks, keep your trash away
My first impression on reading this was "oh that's great! Anything that makes it easier to make games for the Switch is good." Then I checked the wikipedia article and saw "To date, Frostbite has been exclusive to video games published by Electronic Arts." So, never mind.
I buy games based on how good the game is; the publisher is irrelevant to me.
If you're against companies trying to maximise their profits, then you'd be boycotting most of the consumables on the planet...
If I can play Battlefield on the toilet then that would be great and I would welcome EA with open arms.
Kinda happy without their presence on the console but i guess it cant hurt to have another big company supporting it...
@Anti-Matter They're not just cold with Nintendo, they've completely lost touch with their entire player base and the majority of the gaming industry. Their E3 conferences now inherit a structure similar to that of an investor meeting. They don't care about meeting the demands of consumers, they only care about milking their once beloved franchises to maximize revenue and minimize risk based on branding alone.
I don't even know why you're so optimistic about them getting better. Besides, they've already squeezed every last dime out of Star Wars, and more recently, Battlefield and Command and Conquer.
@Silly_G As much as I'd love to see the Sims return, I don't trust EA to not butcher it in some fashion. They would probably just sell the next game on branding alone, but not develop it for the purpose of meeting consumer demands, but rather investor demands instead, which is exactly the approach they've taken with that C&C mobile game
@JaxonH I don't think Capcom has it nearly as bad as the other developers you mentioned, but I see your point. They have taken a relatively conservative approach when it comes to in-game purchases in DMC V, as they are completely optional and don't directly integrate with the progression system, as the developers themselves pointed out, similar to DMC 4 Special Edition. The only practice they executed, which seemed detached from their player base, was introducing ads to Street Fighter V, which really sucks.
@JaxonH Also on that note, a Mass Effect Trilogy, or Dead Space 1+2 pack for Switch would be amazing
@BlueBlur101
Because, only The Sims franchises (And MySims series) that i really love from EA.
I'm falling in love with Life Simulation & House Building games like The Sims / Portal Knights / Dragon Quest Builders.
@Anti-Matter I wouldn't count on Sims coming back, or at least not in the form of a good, consumer-friendly, or structurally complete Sims game. If they can defy fans of all of their other triple-A franchises, then Sims will either never come back, or will come back as half the game it used to be.
EA can kiss my a$$
@BlueBlur101
Agree on you assesment. They are just pathetic and ruining some great franchises with their ‘design’ choices.
What sucks is we can’t even have a competing NFL football game (what the hell NFL) and they have the Star Wars license yet see no rrason to give is a KOTOR3, a new Rogue Squad, or a Jedi Froce FPS. Really the aint doing shit with it that I care about.
I like other would love last gen greats ME,1-3, DA1-3, and something like a new NFS HP game with local adhoc.....but I doubt we will get squat I care about unless its Madden.
@QuickSilver88 Switch doesn't even have Madden yet (not that i care because I'm not into sports games).
It has been my dream to have a Switch exclusive Rogue Squadron reboot.
But EA will probably butcher that too
How about madden and nhl hockey for the switch NBA2K19 is awesome on the switch and portable
One series i've not seen mentioned here is Alice, i would love Madness Returns to be ported to Switch, it's a real shame the EA of today is so different to the one that published games like this
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