(Pocket-lint) - Need for Speed: Rivals, a next and current-generation driving game from Electronic Arts, is unique in that it uses a modified version of the much-acclaimed Frostbite 3 engine. The game development technology is best known for powering the Battlefield series of first person shooters, but its latest iteration has been customised to be the engine behind the new racer from start-up development studio Ghost Games.

One of the reasons for its adoption is studio head and executive producer of the latest Need for Speed, Marcus Nilsson, was also senior producer of Dice's Battlefield 3. He had experience of what Frostbite was capable of, so it made sense to utilise it for other genres, outside of shooters.

However, even though the engine is being used in a more varied manner, you shouldn't expect it to become like the Unreal Engine, which powers a vast array of current-generation games out there, from multiple publishers. Electronic Arts is proud of its technology and it will be keeping it firmly in-house. "It's never going to be the Unreal Engine because we're never going to let anyone use it," Nilsson told Pocket-lint in a one-to-one interview.

"It's EA's engine and EA is going to start developing that. Whatever the strategies for Frostbite 3 are I can't talk about. But I can tell you Frostbite 3, for us, is not only awesome in what it outputs on the screen, it's also how the developers back in Gothenburg can work with it. The iteration times are faster, the Frostbite team has that much more time - not working on the toolsets as [much as] they are on the output."

He did, however, hint that now it has been modified for a new purpose, we are likely to see other games from the more varied Frostbite 3 engine. "We've done a shit load of work to get it to be a proper driving engine. I think if you look at the game and play the game you'll see the results of that. Frostbite 3 is showing its muscle because we've tailored it into a driving engine now," Nilsson added.

Need For Speed: Rivals is due for release on 19 November for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and at a later 2013 date for both Playstation 4 and Xbox One platforms.

You can read the full interview with Ghost Games' Marcus Nilsson on Pocket-lint right here: Need For Speed: Rivals executive producer talks online multiplayer, PS4 vs Xbox One and Frostbite 3

Writing by Rik Henderson and Mike Lowe.