You’ve seen their work in over 500 game titles (Halo 4, Assassin’s Creed 2 & 3, Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, etc.), across nearly every gaming platform (Windows, Playstation, X-Box, WiiU, Android, iOS, arcade games and even Linux) but you may have no idea who Havok is.
Sure, we all see various company names pop up during the loading screens, but who are they and what do they do?
Creating Havok for 13 Years
Since 2000, Havok has created cutting edge graphic technology from their Havok Physics engine, Animation, Animation Studio, Havok Cloth and Havok Destruction and Vision Engine Products.
Many of the biggest studios like Lionshead, Trion Worlds, Sony, THQ, Ubisoft, 343, Treyarch, and many others may owe part of their game’s success to Havok’s middleware applications.
Their software and services for digital media in movies and television have earned them an Emmy Award. And it’s very likely you’ve seen Havok Physics in action in some of your favorite films.
For 5 years running, Havok has won Game Developer Magazine’s Front Line Award for Best Middleware.
“Havok’s technology delivers convincing performance and physical interactivity in Assassin Creed II’s massive game world, allowing players to fluidly navigate the Italian Renaissance environment while enjoying breathtaking views and full freedom of control. We were impressed with what we could do.” – Pierre Escaich, Studio Operations Director, Ubisoft
Cannot Escape the Havok
Now, Havok has announced their suite of middleware tools are available for X-Box One, including their improved Havok Physics 2013.
“X-Box One is an incredible platform with the power to drive gameplay innovation and to push visual fidelity further than we’ve seen before. Havok is proud to offer X-Box One developers the tools to create these new experiences,” – David Coghlan, Managing Director & President of Havok.
343 used Havok’s applications during the development of Halo 4, so expect their newest technology to push the graphics boundaries in Halo 5 and other eagerly awaited X-Box One titles.
Capcom’s Dead Rising 2 used Havok so likely their newly announced Dead Rising 3 for the X-Box One will as well. And Remedy Entertaintainment, the developer of the new title Quantum Break, created their popular Alan Wake and Max Payne series using Havok’s software.
It’s Anarchy, I Tell You!
Recently, Havok also announced that their Project: Anarchy game engine will be FREE to any mobile app developer using the Tizen platform. Tizen is a relatively new system supported by the top mobile device manufactures.
This means even more immersive 3d experiences to come for your phones and pads. More Havok and Anarchy will be coming.
If you’re at E3 this week, pop by Booth 6801 on the Concourse Level.
