Havok Physics Engine, Company Purchased by Microsoft

Microsoft has purchased the gaming physics engine and toolset company Havok, previously owned by Intel, for an undisclosed amount.

You’ve probably seen their logo in front of damn near every game you’ve played in the last decade. Havok is a company that builds physics engine toolsets for 3D games. Which means they’re popular – building your own physics engine is an ordeal.

Yesterday, Microsoft announced that they had purchased the company from Intel, its owners since 2007, without disclosing the details of the deal.

“As we welcome Havok to the Microsoft family, we will continue to work with developers to create great gaming experiences, and continue to license Havok’s development tools to partners,” the company said in a statement. “We believe that Havok is a fantastic addition to Microsoft’s existing tools and platform components for developers, including DirectX 12, Visual Studio and Microsoft Azure.”

The interesting detail of Microsoft purchasing Havok is, of course, that Havok has very much been a platform-agnostic company in the past. While the engine has given absurd ragdoll physics well over 600 games including Microsoft staples like Halo and Crackdown, it has also run for multiple games on Sony and Nintendo consoles, including Sony‘s flagship Uncharted franchise.

Microsoft sees this purchase as part of a greater move toward development innovation. “We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners. Part of this innovation will include building the most complete cloud service, which we’ve just started to show through games like ‘Crackdown 3.'”

Havok was founded in 1998, and also develops the Vision game engine.

[toggles behavior=”accordion”]
[toggle title=”Press Release: Havok to join Microsoft”]Today, we are proud to announce that Microsoft has acquired Havok, the leading provider of 3D physics, from Intel. As we welcome Havok to the Microsoft family, we will continue to work with developers to create great gaming experiences, and continue to license Havok’s development tools to partners. We believe that Havok is a fantastic addition to Microsoft’s existing tools and platform components for developers, including DirectX 12, Visual Studio and Microsoft Azure. Havok is an amazing technology supplier in the games industry and the leading real-time physics creator. We saw an opportunity to acquire Havok to deliver great experiences for our fans. Throughout the company’s history, they’ve partnered with Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and many others to create more than 600 games including Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Destiny, Dark Souls and The Elder Scrolls. Microsoft’s acquisition of Havok continues our tradition of empowering developers by providing them with the tools to unleash their creativity to the world. We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners. Part of this innovation will include building the most complete cloud service, which we’ve just started to show through games like “Crackdown 3.” Havok shares Microsoft’s vision for empowering people to create worlds and experiences that have never been seen before, and we look forward to sharing more of this vision in the near future.[/toggle]
[/toggles]

Share this article:

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on tumblr
Tumblr
Share on email
Email
Share on whatsapp
WhatsApp

Recent Posts

Three fortnite character overlooking the map Features

How Fortnite Hurt The Gaming Industry

When Fortnite was initially released in 2017, it was a PVE defense game that didn’t seem like it would be around for long. With the growing popularity of games in …

Master Chief holding his helmet. Halo Infinite Features

What Halo Infinite Should Have Been

https://youtu.be/Cagxj2RchQI?si=_fFf3fs_fsh7d0Fq Many people have a gaming franchise that changed their life in some way. I have life-long friendships that have been formed while playing games like Mario Kart and Golden …

Gaming News

Should You Buy A Meta Quest 3S?

https://youtu.be/EVSbA2Yxx2k?si=G2KXmPguAB_45u5n Meta recencetly heald their Meta Connect conference and announced some excited things if you’re into VR and AR. The Meta Quest 2 was once the hottest item in their …

Halo Project Foundry Gaming News

What Is The Future of Halo?

https://youtu.be/a2CCRgycbLI?si=3juhSUwirUTpKWoJ There have been rumors for years about what is next for Halo. Today during the Halo World Championships, we got our answers. 343 Industries will now be known as …

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind Gaming News

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind | Developer Interview

It may surprise many, but there has never been a Power Rangers arcade beat ’em up game. (I know right!?!?!) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is a passion project …

Jay and Silent Bob: Chronic Blunt Punch Gaming News

Jay and Silent Bob: The Chronic Blunt Punch | PAX West 2024

Going into PAX West 2024, I knew that I was going to enjoy ‘Jay and Silent Bob: The Chronic Blunt Punch’, but I did not know it was going to be …