Havok Opens New Copenhagen Office, Hires IO Interactive Vet Jakobsen

Middleware developer Havok has opened a new office in Copenhagen, to be led by former IO Interactive research head Thomas Jakobsen. The company says its new facility will house further research and development into physics technology. Havok managing director David Coghlan says the company aims to stay ahead of multiplatform development and optimization trends for physics tech. The company's Animation and Behavior suites contain a variety of tools involved in object and character physics and animations in game development. "Our Copenhagen office joins a family of now six offices worldwide, and will be a key R&D hub for Havok, as we aggressively grow and evolve the company alongside the exciting and ever-changing games industry," Coghlan says. At IO Interactive, Jakobsen not only served as head of research, but was a member of the original Hitman series team. He developed the initial physics engine and pathfinding algorithms that helped build the games, and led Verlet integration and other cloth and body physics strategies for the team. Havok says it's "actively recruiting" for the Copenhagen office, and that it's growing at its other facilities as well; the company also has offices in Dublin, San Francisco, Calcutta, Munich and Tokyo.