Codemasters Licenses NaturalMotion's Morpheme Animation Middleware

Dirt and Grid developer Codemasters licensed the animation middleware Morpheme for "upcoming titles and future game development," game tech house NaturalMotion said this week. "We selected NaturalMotion’s Morpheme after a thorough evaluation period”, said Codemasters chief technology officier Bryan Marshall. "Animation quality and performance have become extremely important for creating compelling game content." Aside from Morpheme, NaturalMotion's software products include the 3D animation tool Endorphin, and the simulated animation tool Eurphoria. The company's software is found in titles including Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, Codemasters Ashes Cricket 2009, and LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Codemasters' Marshall added that Morpheme "augments" his studio's internal EGO Engine, which is used as the basis for the racing games Dirt and its sequel, and Grid. Morpheme is available for PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, PC, and Apple iPhone. NaturalMotion's website describes Morpheme as an "advanced animation engine and powerful graphical authoring tool-chain." In July this year, NaturalMotion attributed an 80 percent rise in revenues for its first half to rapid adoption of Morpheme among game developers. At the time, the company said it employed 70 employees across its San Francisco offices and its Oxford headquarters.