EA Sports Ignite—EA’s next-generation sports engine—is not compatible with PC platforms for the time being, but will do so in the future, according to EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson.
Speaking to Polygon during last week’s E3, Wilson explained the PC’s average hardware specifications are not as powerful as the next-gen consoles. In short, sports games utilizing the Ignite engine would lack the necessary performance on PC as compared to the Xbox One or PlayStation 4. Moreover, sports titles that use the Ignite engine—such as FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14 and EA Sports UFC—are currently being developed for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Wilson said the Ignite engine compensated for the components of both Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen consoles—as Wilson puts it, “how the CPU, GPU, and RAM work together in concert in that type of environment”. While that might be the case, Wilson says PC is not out of the picture.
“So could I see the potential for EA Sports Ignite to make it to PC in the near future? Yes, I think it’s possible, but a couple of things need to happen,” Wilson says. “There needs to be some adjustment in terms of how EA Sports Ignite works to facilitate the open nature of PC architecture, rather than the closed nature of console architecture.”
Wilson was present at Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal event in May, introducing the Ignite engine for the first time. And during Microsoft’s E3 press conference last Monday, Wilson said FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 14 and EA Sports UFC would in launch in the next 12 months.
