Respect to the Unholy Saints - Saints Row Screeches onto the Shelves with Truckloads of Havok
San Francisco, CA, 05 September 2006 – Powered by Havok, the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries, the much anticipated Saints Row, published by THQ and developed by Volition, hits the shelves today with a new twist on gangland action. Released exclusively for the Xbox 360™, this physics rich game is set to be one of the big hits of 2006, with 350,000 people downloading a single player online demo in just one week.
Volition’s Alan Lawrence, Technical Director on Saints Row, sees their decision to use Havok physics as key to his team’s ability to make their creative aspirations into a reality on screen for players: “The most important licensed product we use in Saints Row is Havok. One of the best things about licensing Havok is that it enabled us to have robust physics very early in development – you have physics that does what you want it to do right from the start - a real boon for the design team. This allowed us to experiment early with vehicles, ragdoll and dynamic objects. The physics in Saints Row is definitely one of the next generation features that gamers are really going to appreciate.”
Enabled by Havok’s cutting edge physics technology, Saints Row gives gamers the opportunity to roam the mean and dangerous streets of the city of Stilwater, battling for turf, carjacking vehicles, taking hostages and building “respect” in a gameplay-rich world. Saints Row offers an unparalleled level of character and vehicle customization and the freedom to progress through the game any way the player chooses. Every action taken in the fully dynamic world is an opportunity for players to earn respect. With enough respect, the city evolves into a giant playground for the player to cross and interact with. Havok provides the rigid body dynamics and collision detection behind some of Saints Row’s most compelling and action-packed scenes.
The team at Volition has made the most of physics in this compelling game, creating a very detailed dynamically simulated environment. According to David O’Meara, CEO of Havok, Volition has been particularly successful in leveraging the collision detection system, which processes detailed information about the points involved in a collision – where they are and how strong. “Volition has really made the most of Havok’s advanced collision detection capabilities. Gone are the “smash and you’re history” days. It’s much more detailed and true to life – you’re racing along in a pristine vehicle, you swerve against a parked car and you lose your wing mirror, you skid around the corner and collide with a trash can and your bumper is hanging off, but you’re still going – Saints Row adds a whole new level of realism and power to the player’s ride. Now, that definitely earns my respect.”
For more information, contact:
Lorna Carney
+353 1 472 4300 +353 87 287 2741
About Havok
Havok is the premier provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries. With world leading expertise in physics, animation and tools, Havok’s business is to turn our customers’ creative aspirations into technical realities. Havok’s modular suite of tools gives power to the creator, making sure that our clients can reach new standards of realism and interactivity, while mitigating the overall cost and risks associated with creating today’s leading video games and movies.
Havok works in partnership with the world’s best known game developers - including Sony, THQ, Microsoft, EA, Ubisoft and Activision. Havok’s cross-platform, professionally supported technology is available for the PlayStation®2, PlayStation®3, PSP™, Xbox™, Xbox360™, Wii™(in production), GameCube™, and the PC. Havok’s combination of superior technology and dedication to delivering for our customers every time has led to our technology being used in more than 150 of the world’s best known game titles, including Halo 2, Half Life 2, Oblivion: Eternal Scrolls IV, Age of Empires III and Cars.
Havok products have been used to drive special effects in movies such as Poseidon, The Matrix, Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Havok provides the dynamics driving 3ds max from Autodesk Media and Entertainment.
Havok was founded in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland and has offices in San Francisco, San Antonio, Stockholm, Calcutta, Munich, and Tokyo. For more information, go to www.havok.com.
