Physics middleware creator and 'physics processing unit' hardware company Ageia has announced new licensing terms, allowing its PhysX SDK to be used and its runtime components distributed in all commercial and non-commercial PC projects for free.
Ageia's new EULA allows game developers of any size to "harness the power of the physics in their titles with a simple license." The company, which continues to market its PhysX PC add-on hardware processor, available for purchase in PC cards from Asus and BFG, is presumably hoping that PC developers will use its software solution for free - and then integrate further PhysX hardware support into its game.
According to an
Ageia Support Center FAQ page, the PhysX SDK is currently free for commercial & non-commercial use on PC, as long as registration information is correct, and the EULA is obeyed. There is no requirement to support the PhysX hardware.
The PhysX SDK is also available for free on the PlayStation platform through the Sony pre-purchase, and on all platforms "through some of our middleware partnerships, such as UE3, Gamebryo 2.2, and others." However, fees still exist for the Xbox 360 version, though Ageia notes that the "fee may be waived at our discretion for multi-platform developers providing PC hardware support, and that "fee may be waived at our discretion for some Tools & Middleware providers."
Manju Hegde, Co-Founder and CEO of Ageia, commented of this announcement: "Now every game developer can implement the leading physics solution in their products easily and free-of-charge. We've been amazed by some of the implementations we’ve seen in the past few months that are accelerated by the PhysX processor and are excited about bringing innumerable new projects to life."
