Advancing AAA Mobile Graphics with Open Source Technologies

Industry leaders spanning the full technology stack are collaborating through the Open 3D Engine (O3DE) and its Mobile Working Group to advance the state of mobile games and graphics. During a panel discussion earlier this year at GDC 2023 led by Tyrran Ferguson of Imagination Technologies, they talked about the ways open source technologies like Open 3D Engine (O3DE) are accelerating and improving the development of AAA games and graphics for mobile devices. Open 3D Foundation (O3DF) Executive Director Royal O’Brien participated in the panel along with executives from Carbonated, OPPO and Persistent Studios/PopcornFX.

The panel discussed the AAA features, graphics enhancements and live ops that are being built into next-gen mobile games, and explored the careful balance between game performance, graphics fidelity, and mobile battery life. They also explained how open source technologies are helping close time and cost gaps between experimentation and market readiness. 

Throughout the discussion, O3DE was trumpeted as a game changer in the mobile industry by providing:

• Acceleration – By removing the barriers and complexities that come with multiple versions, code sets, libraries, features, and licensing requirements.
• Quicker innovation – The agility in adapting new mobile GPU features to games. O3DE provides an open platform for all parties in the ecosystem, from chipset and device manufacturers to game studios, to co-develop and enable new features simultaneously.
• Flexibility – O3DE is fully modular. Any piece of the engine (renderer, network stack, etc.) can be used independently, and libraries can be applied universally, or piece by piece. 
• Cost advantages – No licensing cost is a very good thing, especially with mobile development cycles often lasting several years. O3DE is a free tool that anyone can download and use.
• Cloud integration and live ops – Providing necessary functionality for connected mobile games and experiences.
• Future-proofed consistency – A single engine that gets better over time, with the ability to customize as needed.

The groundbreaking mobile ray tracing demo created by Imagination Technologies using O3DE brings these advantages into greater focus. 

Ray tracing is a powerful technology that enhances games and graphics by mimicking how light behaves in the real world and, more specifically, computing that behavior within a 3D engine’s renderer. Unlike other game engines, O3DE can use ray tracing to dynamically compute global illumination – not just reflections – in real time. 

One panel member described O3DE as “the blender of game engines” and encouraged mobile developers and game studios to get involved.

We couldn’t agree more. 

Join us as we continue to advance O3DE and its impact on AAA mobile games and graphics, and consider participating in O3DE’s Mobile Working Group!

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