HAVOK TECHNOLOGY USED BY UBISOFT TO CREATE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED VIDEO GAME TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL CHAOS THEORY™
Ubisoft use Havok Physics to develop the fast-paced and realistic game dynamics for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
San Francisco, CA, May 12, 2005 – Havok, a leading developer of middleware for the video game industry, announced today that Havok physics has been used by Ubisoft to develop the fast-paced and realistic game dynamics for Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory™; the third installment in Ubisoft’s award-winning franchise.
Dubbed as having “the most impressive graphics of this console generation”*, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory exceeds high expectations set by its two predecessors -Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow™. The Official Xbox Magazine (circulation 400,000) has given the latest title the highest review score in the magazine’s history: a 9.9 out of a possible10 points.
With more than 10 million units sold worldwide after the first two installments, Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell stealth-action series has broken graphical barriers and taken the gaming world by storm. Ubisoft developers used Havok Physics technology extensively throughout Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory to meet their unique gameplay requirements, including intense environmental debris, rag-doll effects, dynamic lighting, sound, explosions and ‘ray-casting’ for bullets and AI (spell out AI).
“Havok’s open architecture is one of the industry’s best physics engines and helped us to push the limits of our developers’ imagination,” said David Chabot, lead engine programmer at Ubisoft. “The excellent support we received from Havok allowed us to reduce our engineering risks and focus more on developing game play to produce Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory, the best graphically enhanced video games to date.”
Havok recently released Havok Complete, which will pave the way for new innovations in character reaction and animation and ensure that Havok maintains its current industry leadership position. Together, Havok Physics 3 and Havok Animation 3 will provide the most powerful, integrated physics and animation solution available for next generation games.
“We are very proud to be part of such a landmark game,” said David O’Meara, Chief Executive Officer of Havok. “We look forward to continuing our work with Ubisoft on future projects as we extend our product line to keep pace with cutting edge games like Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.”
About Havok
Founded in 1998, Havok is the gaming industry’s leading physics provider and one of the industry’s best kept technical secrets. Havok’s technology is used by over 70 of the world’s leading game developers to enhance realism and improve game play.
Using Havok, game developers can build virtual worlds which allow players to enter a dynamic, living and breathing universe where characters interact with each other in a completely natural and unscripted way. The Havok team has one focus – to build game specific solutions that work. That focus has made Havok the leading independent provider of middleware physics to the games industry.
About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through its strong and diversified line•up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 21 countries and sales in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high•quality, cutting•edge videogame titles to consumers. Ubisoft generated revenue of € 537 million for the 2004–2005 fiscal year, an increase of 8 percent over the previous fiscal year at constant exchange rates. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
