Intel Purchases Game Tools Firm Havok

Chip giant Intel has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire major game tools company Havok for an unspecified sum, with the Irish-based firm to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel. According to an official statement released alongside the late-Friday announcement: "The acquisition will enable developers in the digital animation and game communities to take advantage of Intel's innovation and technology leadership in the creation of digital media." Havok most recently announced Havok 5 at the Austin Game Developers Conference, adding "major new features" in this latest edition of its modular suite of run-time technology and artists' tools. As the firm noted, Havok 5 features enhancements to its core products, Havok Physics and Havok Animation, and introduces new features for Havok Behavior, a system for developing event-driven character behaviors in a game. Some of the games using Havok technology, particularly its Havok Physics solution, include BioShock, Stranglehold, Halo 2, Half Life 2, Oblivion, Crackdown, and MotorStorm - the company is also rapidly developing and marketing further tool products. Havok was founded in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland, and has operations in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich and Tokyo. The company will be a wholly owned Intel subsidiary and continue to operate as an independent business working with its customers in developing digital media content. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "Havok is a proven leader in physics technology for gaming and digital content, and will become a key element of Intel's visual computing and graphics efforts," said Renee J. James, Intel vice president and general manager of Software and Solutions Group. "Havok will operate its business as usual, which will allow them to continue developing products that are offered across all platforms in the industry."