The deal will provide Microsoft Game Studios with annual access to Havok tools and technology including the award-winning Havok Physics, Havok Animation, and Havok Behavior. Currently featured in over 200 games, Havok tools and technologies power real-world physics – force, gravity, motion, and energy - in virtual worlds so games and movies are more realistic.
“We are thrilled that the elite development teams that are part of Microsoft Game Studios Europe have chosen Havok’s Triple-A products to power their games,” said David O’Meara, Managing Director of Havok. “As the preferred choice for middleware software among developers, Havok is laser-focused on continuously creating the most valuable, innovative and easy-to-integrate cross-platform technologies to help them achieve their creative vision.”
The Havok Spectrum bundle featured in Microsoft Game Studios titles will provide out-of-the box integration between Havok Physics, Havok Animation and Havok Behavior. As the industry-leader in physics technology, Havok Physics adds an extra level of integrity to games and frees up production time by eliminating design limitations that stem from high-velocity game objects. Havok Animation is a fast, flexible animation SDK that provides a rich set of general purpose animation blending, inverse kinematics, and real-time mirroring and mapping capabilities for game characters. Finally, the Havok Behavior tool and SDK helps users rapidly compose game-playable behaviors that provide immediate “what you see is what you get” results on every major game-platform available.
“Rare has had a long-standing partnership with Havok and we have extensively used Havok technology on a wide range of titles and prototypes during that time. We have now made the decision to use Havok’s components exclusively in our shared technology platform and therefore on our game titles. Rare has been impressed by Havok’s suite of highly optimized components, which have allowed us to focus on the features that make Rare games unique and fun experiences,” said Salvatore Fileccia, Head of Software at Rare. “Having integrated Havok into our shared technology base, it has allowed our game teams to use just one component, such as Physics, or a combination of components, such as Behavior, Animation and Cloth, to rapidly prototype new ideas and accelerate the development process. We have also been impressed by the level of support provided by Havok and the depth of their tools infrastructure. We are looking forward to building on this partnership, keeping Rare at the forefront of game innovation and helping us to deliver world-class Xbox 360 and Project Natal experiences.”
“We chose Havok because the company’s technology has been used so effectively in so many games we enjoy playing,” said Joss Moore, Senior Programmer at Lionhead Studios. “Havok’s comprehensive, robust, efficient, and feature-rich technology was surprisingly easy to get up and running within our games, and it was reassuring to know that Havok’s proactive support team was always available.”
In addition to its core, developer-preferred Physics-based technologies, Havok recently unveiled Havok AI, a much-needed productivity tool for game developers focused on dramatically streamlining pathfinding for moving objects in dynamic environments. Available now, Havok AI is part of Havok 6.5, the company’s most comprehensive lineup to date – featuring substantial enhancements to Havok Physics, Havok Animation, Havok Behavior, Havok Cloth, and Havok Destruction.