Havok
Havok provides physics, cloth, and navigation middleware for AAA game studios. A wholly-owned Microsoft subsidiary since 2015, the Dublin-based firm licenses its technology to developers of best-selling games across all major platforms.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Havok does
Havok is a Dublin-headquartered (Ireland) middleware provider, founded in 1998–2000 as Telekinesys Research Limited and operating globally under the Havok trade name from offices in Dublin, San Francisco, and Tokyo. The company develops real-time physics, cloth, and AI navigation middleware licensed to video game developers and publishers across PC, console, and mobile platforms. Its three core SDK products — Havok Physics (collision detection, constraint solving, dynamic simulation), Havok Cloth (physically based soft body simulation), and Havok Navigation (nav mesh generation, pathfinding, steering) — are sold both as engine-agnostic SDKs and as fully maintained Unreal Engine 5 integrations (Havok Physics/Navigation/Cloth for Unreal). Notable customers include Nintendo, Activision, Pearl Abyss, Gearbox, Xbox Game Studios, Capcom, and Team Asobi.
Havok's underlying technology centers on a Projected Gauss-Seidel iterative constraint solver with Baumgarte stabilization, supplemented by direct solvers, stabilization atoms, and constraint-group iteration budgets; a fully multithreaded cloth engine; and an asynchronous navigation processor with voxel-based nav mesh generation. These components are supported by developer tooling including a Visual Debugger and Cloth Preview Tool, and are differentiated by claimed performance gains (e.g., 4–6× speedup with Physics Particles) and cross-platform determinism across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Havok was acquired by Microsoft in 2015 and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary (legal entity: Telekinesys Research Limited t/a Havok, Ireland). Revenue is generated through annual software licensing, structured in two tiers: USD 50,000 per product per year for studios with budgets up to USD 20 million, and custom multi-year contracts with full support and source code access for higher-budget studios. Distribution is direct enterprise sales with NDA-gated evaluations; no resellers or distributors are used. The company previously expanded via acquisitions of Trinigy (2011), Rocketbox Studios (2012), and Kore Virtual Machines (2010), and continues to ship multiple SDK releases per year aligned with Unreal Engine update cycles.
Havok firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Havok
- Legal name
- Telekinesys Research Limited t/a Havok
- Website
- https://havok.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Havok provides physics, cloth, and navigation middleware for AAA game studios. A wholly-owned Microsoft subsidiary since 2015, the Dublin-based firm licenses its technology to developers of best-selling games across all major platforms.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Havok industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Game Development Middleware
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Game Engines (General-Purpose & Real-Time 3D) (MPAFAFAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cross-Platform Porting, Compatibility & Device Abstraction Middleware (MPAFAFAI), SDKs, APIs & Platform Integration Tools (Console/Store/Identity) (MPAFAFAJ), Profiling, Debugging, Performance & Optimization Tools (MPAFAFAH)
Keywords
Where Havok is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Havok business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software License Fees: Havok licenses its physics, navigation, and cloth middleware to game studios. Licensing and pricing depend on project scope, platforms, and selected products. Tiered pricing structure with different rates for studios with budgets under $20M USD versus above $20M USD.
- Enterprise Licensing: Flexible license options for studios with budgets above $20M, including full support and access to full source code. Annual licensing with no royalty fees.
- Professional Support: Higher-tier budgets above $20M receive full support and access to full source code, differentiating from community support tier for smaller studios.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Budgets up to $20M - $50,000 per Havok product per year |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Budgets above $20M - Custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Havok product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Havok develops and licenses middleware SDKs for game studios, centered on three core products: Havok Physics (real-time collision detection and dynamic simulation), Havok Cloth (physically based cloth and soft body simulation), and Havok Navigation (nav mesh generation, pathfinding, and steering). These SDKs integrate with proprietary game engines and are also delivered as fully maintained Unreal Engine 5 plugins.
Product overview
Havok provides a modular suite of game development middleware products centered around three core offerings: Havok Physics (real-time collision detection and dynamic simulation), Havok Cloth (physically-based cloth and soft body simulation), and Havok Navigation (navigation mesh generation, pathfinding, and steering). These SDK products integrate with proprietary game engines and are also available as dedicated Unreal Engine integrations (Havok Physics for Unreal, Havok Cloth for Unreal, Havok Navigation for Unreal). Additional products include Havok Physics Particles for lightweight rigid body simulation at scale, and supporting tools such as the Visual Debugger and Cloth Preview Tool.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Havok Physics Award-winning, battle-tested, and scalable physics engine providing real-time collision detection and dynamic simulation for game developers.
- Havok Cloth Customizable, fully multithreaded, and highly optimized cloth simulation engine enabling physically based motion for garments, hair, banners, foliage and other soft bodies.
- Havok Navigation Optimized navigation system offering navigation mesh generation, pathfinding, and steering to enable characters to intelligently understand and react to dynamic worlds.
- Havok Physics for Unreal Fully supported, battle-tested integration of Havok Physics for Unreal Engine, providing the gold-standard physics simulation within Unreal Engine 5.
- Havok Cloth for Unreal Integration of Havok Cloth for Unreal Engine providing ultimate control, fully multithreaded cloth simulation with professional support.
- Havok Navigation for Unreal High-speed, robust navigation integration for Unreal Engine with deep character integration, offering navigation mesh generation, pathfinding, and steering.
Quantifiable outcome
- 4-6x performance improvement with Physics Particles compared to standard rigid bodies
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Havok
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Havok technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature10 records
Havok partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Epic Games (Unreal Engine)coreHavok provides fully maintained integrations for Unreal Engine through Havok Physics for Unreal, Havok Navigation for Unreal, and Havok Cloth for Unreal products. These integrations bring Havok's industry-renowned performance and feature set to Unreal Engine 5 users.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Havok competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- FMOD (Firelight Technologies): FMOD is the audio-middleware counterpart to Wwise and another direct business-model peer: a small middleware company licensing interactive audio tools to AAA game studios with comparable pricing, support tiers and integration patterns.
- Audiokinetic (Wwise): Audiokinetic is the closest analog to Havok as a best-in-class game middleware company (audio) with an identical B2B licensing model to AAA studios. The companies share a near-identical go-to-market, pricing structure, and customer base.
- NVIDIA (PhysX): NVIDIA ships PhysX, the most direct head-to-head competitor to Havok Physics for real-time game physics, collision detection and rigid/soft body simulation. Both target the same AAA game studios with licensable physics middleware integrated into multiple engines.
- AMD (Bullet Physics): Bullet Physics (originally a Sony open-source project, now under AMD) is an open-source physics engine used in films and games. It directly competes with Havok Physics on price (free) and on capability for collision detection and rigid body simulation.
Others
- SideFX (Houdini): SideFX Houdini is a VFX/simulation platform whose cloth, destruction and rigid-body solvers overlap with Havok's cloth and physics in film/virtual production use cases. It is an adjacent, enabling player rather than a direct game-middleware competitor.
Broad incumbents
- Crytek (CryEngine): Crytek's CryEngine includes an integrated physics layer and historically competed head-to-head with Havok for engine-level physics. Crytek is a broad incumbent offering physics as one component of a full game engine rather than a standalone middleware.
- Unity Technologies: Unity ships integrated physics (PhysX-based stack) as part of its engine, competing with Havok's standalone physics across mobile, PC and console developers. Like Epic, it is a broad incumbent offering overlapping capabilities inside a wider engine platform.
- Epic Games (Unreal Engine / Chaos Physics): Epic's Unreal Engine bundles native physics (Chaos) and runs the engine into which Havok integrates via plugins. Epic is both a partner (Unreal integration) and a competitive threat (free bundled physics), making it a broad incumbent in the same product category.
Emerging players
- Godot Engine: Godot is a fast-growing open-source game engine with built-in 2D/3D physics that competes with Havok at the indie and mid-tier. It is not a direct like-for-like replacement at the AAA level but is steadily encroaching on Havok's lower-tier segment.
- Open 3D Engine (O3DE): O3DE, the open-source successor to Amazon Lumberyard, ships with its own physics integration (PhysX-based) and is positioned as a free AAA-capable engine. It is an emerging competitor to the Havok + custom-engine stack for studios considering an engine switch.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Havok social profiles
Digital presenceHavok financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Havok leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Havok funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Havok M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A3 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Havok
What does Havok do?
Havok develops and licenses middleware SDKs for game studios, centered on three core products: Havok Physics (real-time collision detection and dynamic simulation), Havok Cloth (physically based cloth and soft body simulation), and Havok Navigation (nav mesh generation, pathfinding, and steering). These SDKs integrate with proprietary game engines and are also delivered as fully maintained Unreal Engine 5 plugins.
Is Havok a public or private company?
Havok is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Havok founded?
Havok was founded in 2000. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Havok based?
Havok is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Havok make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Software License Fees are the primary driver. The others are enterprise Licensing and professional Support.
Who are Havok's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are FMOD (Firelight Technologies), Audiokinetic (Wwise), NVIDIA (PhysX) and AMD (Bullet Physics). SideFX (Houdini) is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are Crytek (CryEngine), Unity Technologies and Epic Games (Unreal Engine / Chaos Physics). Emerging players are Godot Engine and Open 3D Engine (O3DE).
Does Havok have an API?
No public API is recorded for Havok.
What industry is Havok in?
Havok's product category is Game Development Middleware. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAFAA, Game Engines (General-Purpose & Real-Time 3D), with a secondary code of MPAFAFAI, Cross-Platform Porting, Compatibility & Device Abstraction Middleware. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7371.