Electronic Arts has quite the reputation when it comes to using its own Frostbite engine. Developed by DICE, publisher has insisted that many of its games use the engine, despite its incompatibility with RPG-type games. In fact, Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem suffered partly because of this. But it looks like the publisher may not be repeating the same mistake with Mass Effect 5.
GamesBeat reports that EA has put out a hiring notice for a technical director for Mass Effect 5. The publisher is looking for people with “experience with Unreal Engine”. While it does not necessarily mean that the publisher will dictate that Bioware uses the engine for the game, the possibility remains open.
So while Unreal is a strong strong possibility, it's also possible BioWare could be looking at Unreal to inform what it needs in Frostbite if it were to stick with EA's in-house tools. But in that process, it seems likely that devs will probably just want to stick with Unreal.
— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) September 3, 2021
The report goes on to say that, for Mass Effect 5, the company is considering all its options. In terms of visual tech, Frostbite may be noticeably inferior to Unreal Engine 5 that choosing it would be the better option. Alternatively, Bioware may be looking to get Unreal Engine to compare and learn what it needs in Frostbite should it end up using the latter.
All that being said, Mass Effect 5 will likely only enter production in 2023, with a possible 2025 release. Until then, Bioware will still be working on Dragon Age 4, which it plans to release in 2023
(Source: GamesBeat)
