Autodesk Wants to Play

Autodesk has announced the acquisition of Scaleform – for 36 million US dollars. In return, Autodesk gets a technology already used as middleware in more than 800 games and suitable for PCs, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3), Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Nintendo Wii.

Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 21, 2011. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.

Scaleform GFx is middleware for game interfaces and 3D effects, with Flash and the Creative Suite. It also includes 3D hardware accelreation, which enables smooth transfers for menus, HUDs, animated textures, mini-games and even mobile games. Integration into existing Autodesk products is expected to be completed by the end of 2012, while the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.