Intel Buys Physics Developer Havok

By Geoff Duncan September 17, 2007

In an unexpected move, chipmaking giant Intel has announced it is acquiring Havok, Inc., a leading developer of physics and animation tools mostly used in video games and other digital media. Terms of the aquisition were not revealed. Under the deal, Havok will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel, and continue to develop solutions for the gaming and movie industries.

“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, VP and general manager of Intel’s Software and Solutions Group, in a statement. “Havok will operate its business as usual, which will allow them to continue developing products that are offered across all platforms in the industry.”

Havok’s tech has graced the CPUs and screens of many gamers and movie fans, and has been used to produce films like The Matrix,Troy,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Kingdom of Heaven, as well as well-known game titles like Halo 2,MotorStorm,Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and current hit BioShock.

Intel apparently plans to leverage Havok’s technology into a larger role in digital content creation; Havok, for its part, seems to look forward to exploiting Intel’s sheer size and market presence to push its solutions further into the computing and entertainment businesses. “This is a great fit for Havok products, customers and employees,” said Havok CEO David O’Meara, in a statement. “Intel’s scale of technology investment and customer reach enable Havok with opportunities to grow more quickly into new market segments with new products than we could have done organically. We believe the winning combination is Havok’s technology and customer know-how with Intel’s scale. I am excited to be part of this next phase of Havok’s growth.”

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