Some Frostbite-powered PC games released next year will require a 64-bit operating system, engine maker DICE has revealed.

Chilling.

This presumably includes new DICE games, whatever they may be - Battlefield 4, maybe Battlefield: Bad Company 3, maybe Mirror's Edge 2.

It also stretches to include the growing number of EA games built on Frostbite 2 - a tactic that allows EA to save on (Unreal Engine 3) licensing fees.

BioWare's Command & Conquer: Generals 2 will be powered by Frostbite 2, as will, we presume, Dead Space 3.

Games already built on Frostbite 2 include Need for Speed: The Runs and the new Medal of Honor game, Warfighter.

"We'll have Frostbite-powered games in 2013 that will _require_ a 64-bit OS," announced Frostbite 2 rendering architect Johan Andersson on Twitter.

"If you are on 32-bit, great opportunity to upgrade to Windows 8."

More than half of the PC users in the world don't own a 64-bit version of Windows, regardless of whether or not they have 64-bit CPUs. They can't flick a switch to enable 64-bit - they need to buy a new version of Windows, which is costly.

So why is DICE making the switch? Well, 64-bit processors are the future, even if they've been mainstream since 2003 - although they didn't take off properly until the Core 2 Duo arrived in 2006.

A 64-bit CPU handles twice the data of a 32-bit CPU per clock cycle. Therefore, it's better. A 64-bit CPU also more efficiently uses RAM.