Autodesk To Buy Scaleform For $36M

Major game and entertainment development tools company Autodesk on Wednesday announced its intent to acquire UI middleware company Scaleform for $36 million in cash. The multi-million dollar deal will add Scaleform's multiplatform user interface solution Scaleform GFx to Autodesk's library of widely-used products, which includes AutoCAD, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya, among others. Autodesk claims 9 million users worldwide. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of April this year at the conclusion of publicly-held Autodesk's first fiscal quarter. Scaleform's technology is used in around 800 games across PC and major handheld and console platforms. Scaleform GFx allows developers to use 3D hardware to create more cinematic menus, in-game heads-up displays, animated textures, minigames and mobile games and apps. The middleware company currently employs around 30 workers. Autodesk said that the point of the acquisition is to expand its operations, and that "It is our intent to retain the majority of Scaleform’s employees." Autodesk Media & Entertainment VP of games Marc Stevens said in a statement that the acquisition will "further Autodesk’s ability to provide customers with more complete workflows to more rapidly develop immersive 3D and casual game experiences." He added, "The Scaleform team will bring a wealth of expertise in creating highly optimized runtime solutions for PCs, consoles and mobile devices. We expect the integration of Scaleform to allow us to innovate faster and help further improve the game creation process for online, console, and mobile development." Scaleform president and CEO Brendan Iribe said the deal will help his company bring its tools and expertise to "the broader interactive entertainment industry ranging from film to mobile to the web." Scaleform's Iribe, CTO Michael Antonov and COO Marc Bennett will join the Autodesk Media & Entertainment leadership team. Scaleform's offices will remain in Greenbelt, MD.