Intel acquires physics software maker Havok

Santa Clara (CA) – Intel gets more involved with game developers as the company announced that it will acquire Havok, best known as developer of a software-based physics solution for video games.

Intel said that it will purchase Havok to make it a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. Financial data of the deal were kept confidential.

According to Intel, Havok will continue to operate its "business as usual, which will allow them to continue developing products that are offered across all platforms in the industry."

Havok, founded in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, offers three products to support game developers with interactive features for their products. The "Behavior" tool promises to enable "event-driven character behaviors in a game" and "Animation" is described to provide "optimized playback and real-time blending on current and next-generation game systems." However, it was the firm’s "Physics" 2 SDK, which allows developers to integrate physics features such as collision detection in their games.

Havok claims that "more than 70 clients" have licensed its technology. So far it has been integrated in apparently "more than 150" titles, including "BioShock," "Stranglehold," "Halo 2," "Half Life 2," "The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion," "Crackdown," "Lost Planet : Extreme Condition," "MotorStorm" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Upcoming games integrating the technology include Halo 3 and Star Wars : The Force Unleashed.

In addition, Havok says that its products have been used to create special effects in movies such as "Poseidon," "The Matrix," "Troy," "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."