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He told Develop that he had "no intention of interest in changing the current situation", adding: "We are independent and cross-platform, not just from a hardware perspective but from a publisher perspective. We have no interest in [being acquired]."
Instead, the people who should be thinking about acquisitions are those in O’Meara’s sights – he confirmed that "there are companies I would like to acquire – and I have the balance sheet to do it."
Havok is fast becoming an industry standard amongst publishers and developers’ next-gen production balance sheets (alongside powerful engine companies like Epic) evident in deals with every major company with a games production interest and presence in a raft of games on shelves this Christmas. Destroy All Humans 2 (Pandemic/THQ), Dead Rising (Capcom), Happy Feet (Midway), Splinter Cell Double Agent (Ubisoft) and Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Neversoft/Acitivision) are just a handful of the games recently released that use the physics technology.
This week Lionhead/Microsoft confirmed that Havok’s technology will be used for Fable 2, while the tool firm has also had a big hand in a number of PS3 launch games and will be used in upcoming Rockstar title LA Noire.
Instead, the people who should be thinking about acquisitions are those in O’Meara’s sights – he confirmed that "there are companies I would like to acquire – and I have the balance sheet to do it."
Electronic Arts’ acquisition of Criterion in 2004 caused a mid-generation headache for many developers and publishers who discovered that an independent third-party tool, Renderware, now lay in the hands of a rival.
A similar occurrence happening to the likes of Havok would prove a nightmare as a new generation of consoles take flight – but Havok chief David O’Meara says publishers shouldn’t worry.
O’Meara added: "We’re not interested in acquiring mediocre companies or brands, but will go as far as we can in filling out on a modular basis every single piece of our portfolio, so that we can provide all media companies a comprehensive range of services."
Look out for the full interview with David O’Meara in the next issue of Develop.
