Respawn’s ‘Star Wars’ First Person Shooter Will Use Unreal Engine 5
Respawn’s next Star Wars title will not use their parent company’s in-house Frostbite Engine to create the worlds of its first-person shooter Star Wars game, but Unreal Engine 5 instead.
Electronic Arts games usually make use of the company’s in-house coding program, the Frostbite Engine, which is typically best-served for FPS titles (barring a notable exception with the problematic Battlefield 2042). However, it’s been learned (hat tip Gameranx) that Respawn Entertainment has opted not to use Frostbite for any of their games, and they are continuing their tradition by choosing to use Unreal Engine 5, which is made by EA competitor Epic Games, to bring one of their next Star Wars games to life.
Melissa Janowicz, Respawn’s Lead Combat AI Designer, recently revealed a pair of jobs listings for the upcoming untitled Star Wars FPS:
https://twitter.com/deedlite/status/1564729340671463424
In response to the offerings, one user asked what engine they would have to be familiar with in order to apply. Janowicz explained that Unreal Engine 5 is being used for the title:
Hi, Preston. Our project is on Unreal Engine 5!
— Melissa Janowicz (@deedlite) August 30, 2022
Respawn Entertainment has used the Unreal Engine before, with the previous version (Unreal Engine 4) being put to good use to create Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with Jedi: Survivor using either Unreal Engine 4 or 5. (It’s possible for games initially developed in the previous version to get an upgrade mid-development, but as of this time, no statement on Survivor‘s engine has been given.) Respawn also used Unreal Engine 4 for the mobile version of Apex Legends and the virtual reality game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. It can be assumed that Respawn and Bit Reactor’s strategy game will also make use of Unreal Engine 5, although nothing is confirmed at this time.
Unreal Engine has more or less become one of the standard engines for developers to use when it comes to multiplatform video game development, so it’s not surprising to see it implemented due to its efficiency. With three Star Wars titles in development at the company and possibly more on the way, it is likely for the best that Respawn keeps using technology that they’re happy with, and there seems to be little reason to reinvent the wheel.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
