Microsoft seems to be placing increased importance on gaming. The latest in its list of acquisitions is game physics company Havoc which has been bought from Intel for an undisclosed fee. Used in titles such as Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, and Halo, Havoc's physics and AI solutions will be an important weapon in Microsoft's gaming arsenal alongside DirectX 12.
Announcing the acquisition, Microsoft says it will "work with developers to create great gaming experiences, and continue to license Havok's development tools to partners".
Neither Microsoft nor Havok has released details of the financial arrangement, and we don’t yet know what the acquisition means for current Havok employees. As well as gaming, it is easy to foresee Havok's technology being implemented in Hololens. Looking to the future, Microsoft says:
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.