Blizzard Entertainment Licenses Havok Physics Technology
Blizzard to use Havok 4.0 for both PC and Mac platforms
San Francisco, September 14, 2006 ? Havok, the premier provider of interactive software and services to digital creators in the game and film industries, announces today that Blizzard Entertainment? has licensed Havok 4.0, the market-leading game-play physics and animation solution.
?Havok 4.0 will add power and flexibility to our development process,? said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. ?We?re looking forward to utilizing this technology with our upcoming games.?
Released in July this year, Havok 4.0 is a modular suite of artist tools and run-time technology that enhances Havok?s industry-leading game-play physics and animation products (Havok Physics? and Havok Animation?). It also introduced two new products – Havok Behavior? and Havok FX?.
With Havok 4.0, game developers can select from a modular suite of technologies and tools spanning game-play physics, character animation, behaviors and special effects, optimized for the widest range of platforms, including Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI) much-anticipated ?PLAYSTATION?3? computer entertainment system, Microsoft?s 64bit Windows operating system, and now Apple Mac.
Jeff Yates, Havok?s Vice President, Product Management comments, ?The Mac is an important piece of technology and because of the cross-platform nature of Havok?s technology, the port to Mac was easy to do. Furthermore, Blizzard Entertainment?s commitment to OS X and to the Mac community is a good indication of the growth potential of the Mac as a games platform. Blizzard has always put out great games on the Mac, and we look forward to Havok becoming a part of that tradition.?
About Havok
Havok is the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries. With world leading expertise in physics, animation and tools, Havok?s business is to turn our customers? creative aspirations into technical realities. Havok?s modular suite of tools gives power to the creator, making sure that our clients can reach new standards of realism and interactivity, while mitigating the overall cost and risks associated with creating today?s leading video games and movies.
Havok works in partnership with the world?s best known game developers – including Sony, THQ, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Activision. Havok?s cross-platform, professionally supported technology is available for the PlayStation?2, PLAYSTATION?3, PSP?, Xbox?, Xbox360?, Wii?, GameCube?, and the PC. Havok?s combination of superior technology and dedication to delivering for our customers every time has led to our technology being used in more than 150 of the world?s best known game titles, including Halo 2, Half Life 2, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Age of Empires III and Cars.
Havok products have been used to drive special effects in movies such as Poseidon, The Matrix, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Havok provides the dynamics driving 3ds max from Autodesk Media and Entertainment.
Havok was founded in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland and has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, and Tokyo.
About Blizzard Entertainment
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft? and the Warcraft?, StarCraft?, and Diablo? series, Blizzard Entertainment (https://www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry?s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard?s track record includes nine #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company?s free Internet gaming service, Battle.net?, reigns as the largest in the world, with millions of active users.
Source: Havok.com
