Microsoft Buys Gamer Havok from Intel, Expands Windows 10 Ecosystem
Although Microsoft (MSFT) is concentrating on its core software and services, the vendor isn’t turning away from gaming, viewing it as way to cement its multi-platform philosophy and promote the expansion of its Windows 10 ecosystem to include the Xbox.
With that in mind, the vendor earlier this week bought Havok, a Dublin, Ireland-based developer of gaming technology, from Intel, which purchased the company in 2007 for $110 million.
No terms of the transaction were disclosed by either party. Microsoft said it will license Havok’s gaming development tools to its developer partners.
From a Microsoft corporate blog post, here’s what the vendor said about acquiring Havok:
“Today, we are proud to announce that Microsoft has acquired Havok, the leading provider of 3D physics, from Intel.
“As we welcome Havok to the Microsoft family, we will continue to work with developers to create great gaming experiences, and continue to license Havok’s development tools to partners. We believe that Havok is a fantastic addition to Microsoft’s existing tools and platform components for developers, including DirectX 12, Visual Studio and Microsoft Azure.
“Havok is an amazing technology supplier in the games industry and the leading real-time physics creator. We saw an opportunity to acquire Havok to deliver great experiences for our fans. Throughout the company’s history, they’ve partnered with Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and many others to create more than 600 games including Halo, Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Destiny, Dark Souls and The Elder Scrolls.
“Microsoft’s acquisition of Havok continues our tradition of empowering developers by providing them with the tools to unleash their creativity to the world. We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners. Part of this innovation will include building the most complete cloud service, which we’ve just started to show through games like ‘Crackdown 3.’
“Havok shares Microsoft’s vision for empowering people to create worlds and experiences that have never been seen before, and we look forward to sharing more of this vision in the near future.”
