Irish firm plays Havok with PS3 launch


20 Nov 2006

An Irish technology company started by Trinity College graduates is powering some of the key games titles coming out with the next-generation Sony PlayStation 3 games console, which debuted in the US this week.

Based in Dublin’s Digital Hub, Havok has established itself as the world’s leading provider of physics middleware for the global games industry, which is estimated to be worth US$65.9bn by 2011.

The company, which has already powered 18 games for Sony rival Microsoft’s Xbox 360, is powering five key titles that will be released between now and Christmas.

These include Sonic the Hedgehog from Sony, F.E.A.R from Vivendi, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from Bethesda, Tony Hawk Project 8 from Activision, Untold Legends: The Dark Kingdom from Sony Online Entertainment.

“We have worked closely with Sony, MicroSoft and Nintendo and put literally hundreds of thousands of hours into optimising our technology for next-generation platforms,” said Havok’s chief executive David O’Meara.

“With the challenge of developing for new and more complex platforms, we knew that game developers would be relying on us to help them to take immersion to the next level. Physics is where the gamer can really reap the benefit of next-generation platforms and we’ve worked to make sure that our customers are getting the superior level of performance on next-generation that they expect.”

More than 180 of the world’s best-known games have already shipped with Havok’s physics engine on board.

O’Meara added: “We’re proud to be able to show that an indigenous Irish technology company like Havok can make a significant impact in such a large, global industry.”

By John Kennedy