Next-gen Snowdrop Engine showcased in new Tom Clancy's The Division trailer

[Stefan]

Massive Entertainment's new engine brings realistic lighting and more to Xbox One and PS4 open world shooter

Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment have shown off some of the things the new Snowdrop Engine can do with a fresh trailer for Tom Clancy's The Division.

The new footage of the next-gen shooter was shown at last weekend's Spike VGX Awards and can be viewed <here>.

The tech demo reiterates that the Snowdrop Engine was created from the ground up for the Xbox One and PS4 title, and allows Massive Entertainment to create a world with high levels of detail.

Crucial to this is the volumetric lighting, which adds to the atmosphere created by the game's changing weather and day/night cycle. The studio has approached lighting in a similar way to Hollywood studios, using light probes to capture lighting as realistically as possible in both indoor and outdoor environments.

This works hand in hand with a new shader system that reacts to the constantly changing weather in the game. Massive has also promised the most realistic surface reaction seen in a game to date, with textures changing depending on where objects are shot or damaged.