Autodesk Acquires Lighting Tech Maker Illuminate Labs

Continuing its ongoing accrual of companies and technology related to video game development, Autodesk has acquired Illuminate Labs, a developer of middleware and plugins that facilitate video game lighting. Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California; Illuminate Labs is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, where it will apparently remain. Illuminate develops two main products: Beast, content pipeline middleware for global and character lighting, and Turtle, a global lighting plugin for Autodesk's own Maya 3D graphics suite. Under the acquisition, Autodesk will maintain Beast as a standalone licensed piece of software, but will discontinue licensing of Turtle as it more fully integrates the plugin into its software suites. Games incorporating Illuminate technology include Dragon Age: Origins, EVE Online, Mirror's Edge, Mass Effect, Supreme Commander 2, and others. "Illuminate Labs' lighting technology and workflow tailored to game development are some of the most advanced in the industry," said Autodesk Media & Entertainment games VP Marc Stevens said in a statement. "They complement Autodesk's games middleware offering." In addition to owning major graphics suites 3ds Max, Maya, and Softimage, Autodesk's portfolio includes game tools like HumanIK character animation middleware and Kynapse AI middleware. "My team and I are excited about the technology development opportunities that Autodesk has to offer," said Magnus Wennerholm, former Illuminate CEO. "I believe that this acquisition will benefit both Autodesk and Illuminate Labs customers."