Havok going free on PC

[Chris Nahr]

Havok has announced its ubiquitous physics and animation middleware will be freely downloadable in May... but only for the PC.

Havok added that its overall focus remains cross-platform and that its tools will continue to be commercially licensed for other platforms and in other industries such as movies. The free offer is only applicable to PC games.

This shows quite clearly how little they think of the viability of the PC as a commercial gaming platform. Of course I'm sure they're all fools and Qt3 knows much better! Cue steadfast denial and unfounded claims about millions of highly profitable download sales...

[Kalle]

I'm not sure it's a reaction against the diminishing PC market as much as it is a move against nvidia who are now competing with Havok after acquiring Ageia, which is free to license.

[Chris Nahr]

Stop getting in the way of my snark with a reasonable counterpoint!

[Demon G Sides]

PC GAMING IS D0MED!!!!1!1!!!!one

[Perco]

The company said it aims to propel innovative game development by making the technology, which includes Havok Physics and Havok Animation, freely available to the large number of independent developers, academic institutions and enthusiasts in the PC space.

Under the terms of the deal, which has been arranged with Havok owner Intel, approved game developers on the PC platform will be able to execute a commercial distribution license with Havok for free.

Seems like the offer is basically only for indie devs.

[EvilIdler]

Meh. Lemme know when they give Torque users a special deal, at least.

[Kadath]

Is this in response to Sony's Phyre Engine?

[Chris Nahr]

Originally Posted by Perco

Seems like the offer is basically only for indie devs.

How would they distinguish between "indie" and "not indie" in their licensing agreement? I read that quote as saying that indies and students are the only developers remaining in the PC-only space. The big publishers would want the multiplatform deal anyway since they are always doing console versions.

[EvilIdler]

Originally Posted by Chris Nahr

How would they distinguish between "indie" and "not indie" in their licensing agreement?

Garage Games distinguish by income from game products. That's not a bad way to measure.
"$250000 per year? Dude, you're no longer indie!"

[RickH]

I would think a quarter-mil in gross revenue would still be pretty small.

Or were you thinking pounds?

[Kunikos]

Intel owns Havok now, right?

[Coca Cola Zero]

Originally Posted by RickH

I would think a quarter-mil in gross revenue would still be pretty small.

$250,000 isn't Scrooge McDuck money for even a small to medium business, but it is enough income that paying $750 (the non-indie price for the engine in question) for a licence is no big deal. For engines whose license prices are well over $750, you may have to adjust the cut-off revenue, but the idea of using that as a deciding factor can still work.