With modeling and animation covered by 3ds Max and Maya, Autodesk Inc. is moving into middleware technology with the acquisition of Kynogon SA, the privately held maker of Kynapse artificial intelligence middleware. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed in the announcement, made this week at the Game Developers’ Conference in San Francisco.
Kynapse gives characters spatial awareness, enabling them to realistically navigate digital environments. The technology has been used in the development of more than 65 major game titles, including Alone in the Dark 5, Crackdown, Fable 2 and The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. In addition to game development, Kynogon’s products are being used for defence and security simulations, such as mission planning and military operations on urban terrain.
‘The future of videogames is about sophisticated game play, with more believable characters and environments,’ says Marc Petit, senior VP of Autodesk Media & Entertainment. ‘Our goal is to simplify videogame development by providing cutting-edge tools to create, animate and integrate 3D assets into game engines. The acquisition of Kynogon is a key component in reaching this goal.’
Autodesk expects the acquisition to be completed within the next three months, and will provide further details about the transaction once it has closed. For more information, go to www.autodesk.com/kynogon.
