Sony is purchasing Audiokinetic, the company behind the multiformat middleware technology Wwise. While you’re unlikely to have heard of this software, you will have seen its logo when booting up games before as it’s very popular. Despite the buyout – which will be completed by 31st January – the company will continue to operate independently, meaning its tools will continue to be available to other publishers, platform holders, and developers.
“A rich and all-encompassing audio experience is increasingly critical to the overall gameplay experience, further enhancing immersion and emotion for the player,” said PlayStation boss John Kodera. “Audiokinetic is a preeminent provider of audio solutions for the gaming industry, and we are confident that this acquisition will allow us to further grow the PlayStation platform and contribute to the broader gaming industry. It’s our goal to support Audiokinetic’s efforts to advance its audio technology while maintaining independence and platform neutrality.”
Audiokinetic founder Martin Klein added: “Joining the SIE family is a win for both Audiokinetic and our partners who use our audio tools and middleware. We will remain independent and continue to deliver our suite of audio solutions to developers and platform holders, with even greater resources to continue innovating, expanding our market, and enhancing our technology. We are also excited about the opportunity to contribute to SIE at a platform level.”
While this is likely a case of Sony expanding its catalogue of technology, we can’t help but ponder whether PlayStation VR played a part in this acquisition. The company’s already done a lot of research and experimentation with 3D audio, and it’s virtual reality’s “secret sauce” in a lot of ways – greatly improving immersion when utilised correctly. Klein’s comments about contributing at a “platform level” does make us wonder whether the organisation has some ideas in mind for the next-generation.
[source sie.com]
Comments 8
Smart move. They will no doubt have some ‘secret sauce’ for PS, but Sony will also be able to cash in on other platforms.
I like Kodera. He certainly seems like a man with a plan.
Yup. This lrpbably lends itself to the old "Nintendo PlayStation" idea.
Buy middleware...and then loan it out. Suddenly louds of other companies are adding to your wallet. Same thing MS did with Havok.
So it has begun.
@Hapuc yeah, I kinda am expecting to hear about a few more Sony acquisitions in the coming months. Let's hope some of them are of the game studio variety.
Sort of back on topic, I hope the Platinum Wireless Headset with its 3D audio capabilities will also work with the PS5.
@Fight_Teza_Fight Kodera plan der Linde
I wwonder wwhere Sony's going wwith this.
Sony are well known and respected for their audio technologies, so this is very interesting news.
Native TrueHD on all games? It's not a true 3D audio if it's not Atmos.
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