Well if i was to advise Sony on a counter to this move it would be to buy AMD outright (they can do this three times over after the recent shares issue) then i would launch a collaborative project to make the ultimate physics middleware provider. Using input and people from nd, r*, bungie etc . Explaining that the company would be independent to offer options to devs.

Yeah, atleast I don't see anything bad coming from this

if anyone thinks this will give Microsoft an edge as far as software is concerned, theyre pretty much flat our wrong.a good 70%+ of havok use is highly modified from its original source, the license is just a requirement to use the codebase, whether it be stock or modified.
It's the same as any other licensed software that provides full source to licensees.
i dont know if we know how much microsoft paid for havok, but i doubt they will be seeing a return on investment from license payments any time soon, it is more likely that the acquisition was done simply to to tighter integration with directx, windows and to padd out their existing XNA framework and XDK toolset.

I think most are worried about future modification to the base code. That could alter performance based on platform or possibly demand DX12 or cloud integration, requiring always online (as the original xbox vision was).

On top of this it could be used as leverage in negotiating exclusives and content etc or pricees may be inflated for certain companies.

Where did you get that number? (the 70%)

Also, I agree with the overall idea. Microsoft aquired them for the integration and to improve their toolset (DirectX, etc...), also I believe they will make sure to integrate Azure to it so developper can use the cloud (async. computation) out of the box for their physics with Havoc.

You are making things way too personal. I am being objective, it has nothing to do with what i like or dislike.

Your analogy didnt work because exaclty like I said, the competition can already do things like that. Look, server based compute has been around for a very long time. It's not new. The level to which they are pushing it, however, is whats novel. And others will follow that lead. Even Sony, or another studio, can simply rent azure space for their game. If a company made a game exclusively, then yes, they would probably get those tools for free, but then they have to leverage that cost versus potential lost sales of being multiplat (where in this case is choosing to miss out on 65%)

Sony has cut 5 studios but has also brought in more new games and ips than anyone else.

Look.

It's not unrelated causes or events. Your chicken and end of world scenario is beyond hyperbole. These are very much related.
I've been saying it for at least 6 months now, that MS would rather be in the PC space and simply extend that space to the television.
Similarly to what Valve is doing with streaming to tv.
PC already has way more install base than xbox does. Given the current market, it makes more sense to go PC, stream to tv, and have the xbox there as well, but just in a smaller capacity. I believe that yes, we will see lower xbox sales, but we should also see higher xbox software sales, simply based on this new platform of windows10.

I believe that MS would rather put out a 500$ PC that can stream to your tv and mobile and everything else interconnectedly. That is the real all in one solution, and I think that's where they're headed.

Personal experince with development.

Besides, the engines provided as source code, its probably even higher than 70% because you would need to modify it to suit the purpose anyway.

Sorry if I come off as personal, no real reason but then again text and conotations can get mixed results.

I still have to say that this purchase is no more or less MS pulling out of the industry then simply them shoring up their already stated design for the gaming platform.  As a company who creates tools and services, it makes perfect sense for them to purchase a company like Havok if one of their main goals is to make their DX12 API and Azure a platform for Cloud based processing for games.  From tabets, Phones, Console and PC MS can leverage integrating Havok into any game made on any of those platforms and thus improve their position on all fronts..  Your statment makes it appear that MS has only the X1 console instead of a wide range of platforms that support games and would all probably use Cloud compute in some form or fashion within their eco.

I actually believe that MS is positioning content to just about every device that has an internet connection.  The PC as being the only place that you can receive high end games is actually fading away more than console based gaming.  Instead, the company that can deliver high end gaming on all the different platforms will be the company that see big growth in the future.  Something like PSNow or Nvidia GeForce Now are a step in the right direction but I believe MS is looking for a complete solution that involves Cloud compute with moderate hardware or more specialize hardware that will give you the best of both worlds.  

Either way it will be interesting to see where all this land in about 5 years as I believe that will be the timeframe when this stuff starts to get fleshed out.

Havok is used for more than just games.
Science, simulation, commercial, military, and academic projects... You name it. It actually fits in well with Microsoft's other business's.


I only see this as a good thing personally as hopefully it means that it will become integrated into Direct X at some point.

Any words about the price yet?