Microsoft Buy Havok From Intel, What Does This Mean For Second Life? Hopefully Nothing!

Microsoft have purchased the physics engine Havok from Intel, report IGN, several other good news outlets (and some bad ones). There’s also a blog post from Microsoft in which they state :

Microsoft’s acquisition of Havok continues our tradition of empowering developers by providing them with the tools to unleash their creativity to the world. We will continue to innovate for the benefit of development partners. Part of this innovation will include building the most complete cloud service, which we’ve just started to show through games like “Crackdown 3.”

Havok shares Microsoft’s vision for empowering people to create worlds and experiences that have never been seen before, and we look forward to sharing more of this vision in the near future.

Now if you’re wondering what this has to do with Second Life, it’s because Havok is the physics engine that Linden Lab use in Second Life to simulate physics, gravity, collisions, etc. So what does this purchase mean for Second Life? I have absolutely no idea, but hopefully it won’t change a thing.

IGN sought some additional feedback from Microsoft and Microsoft duly obliged :

Havok will not be limited to Microsoft exclusively. “We will continue to license Havok’s technology to the broad AAA games industry,” a representative told IGN. “This also means that we will continue to license Havok’s technology to run across various game consoles including Sony and Nintendo.”

That sounds quite positive from Microsoft in terms of third party companies, something Sony could learn from perhaps in terms of their purchase of OnLive which resulted in Second Life users no longer being able to use the service or technology because Sony wanted it all to themselves.

I really don’t think it would be in Microsoft’s interests to cut third parties out of the Havok loop, but I also don’t know what the terms of Linden Lab’s deal with Havok is. Time will tell, but Microsoft are certainly a company with the resources to take Havok forward, so hopefully all will end well.