BioWare using Umbra tech for Mass Effect series

BioWare is seeking more economical graphics rendering by licensing Umbra Software’s optimisation software.

Umbra’s GPU-accelerated rendering optimization tools can speed up content creation for Xbox 360, PC and PS3 projects.

A key feature of the software tool, however, is in how it allows for occlusion culling – the process of removing data from unseen areas in games, thus providing the chance to pack more polygons on-camera.

God of War 2, a graphical triumph for the PS2’s modest GPU, owed much of its visual grunt to the process of occlusion culling.

EA-owned BioWare will use Umbra’s tools for development on the Mass Effect franchise, as well as the PC RPG Dragon Age Origins, and other future titles.

Alan Wake developer Remedy announced back in June that it was using Umbra tech to speed up the development of its long-awaited title.