Autodesk Completes $36M Scaleform Acquisition

Major development tools company Autodesk on Tuesday confirmed the completion of its $36 million acquisition of independent UI middleware company Scaleform, maker of Scaleform GFx. The acquisition brings Scaleform’s popular tools under the same umbrella as other popular Autodesk products including AutoCAD, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya, among others. Autodesk claims 9 million users worldwide. Autodesk originally announced its intent to buy Greenbelt, MD-based Scaleform in mid-February this year. 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." Scaleform CEO Brendan Iribe, CTO Michael Antonov and COO Marc Bennett will join the Autodesk Media & Entertainment leadership team. Scaleform's offices will remain in Greenbelt, MD.