Microsoft Game Studios licenses GFx tech for Crackdown 2, all titles
by Xav de Matos 
on Jul 21st 2009 11:00PM
Microsoft has
signed a deal with Scaleform to utilize its GFx user interface middleware across all Microsoft Game Studios titles, officially beginning with Ruffian's upcoming
Crackdown 2. Scaleform's GFx is a vector graphics rendering engine that allows artists to design user interfaces -- such as menus and in-game heads-up displays (HUDs) -- and animated textures using Adobe Flash. Scaleform's middleware has already been used in an assortment of games, including
The Conduit,
Resistance 2 and
Crysis.
According to
Scaleform's site, using its middleware will allow game developers to focus on building gameplay, "rather than coding interface elements or developing custom tools." We hope that means
Crackdown 2's menus won't run abnormally slow, like the original game in the series.
Brendan Iribe, president and CEO of Scaleform, was elated at the news (and
probably holding a giant novelty check), claiming Microsoft's new "master agreement" for use of the Scaleform GFx middleware will streamline the process for all future MGS development teams.
[Via
Develop]
