Havok: What the Game Physics Middleware Does and Who It Fits

Havok is game middleware that supplies physics, cloth and navigation code to studios building on proprietary engines or Unreal Engine. It sells a per-title license with no royalty. Budgets up to $20m have a published price, and larger budgets are quoted.

What Does Havok Actually Provide?

Havok provides three separate runtime products: Havok Physics, Havok Cloth and Havok Navigation. You license them per product, so you don't have to take all three.

Havok Physics handles real-time collision detection and dynamic simulation. It's the product most studios mean when they say "Havok."

Havok Cloth simulates soft bodies such as garments, hair, banners and foliage. Havok describes it as fully multithreaded.

Havok Navigation covers navigation mesh generation, pathfinding and steering for AI characters. It also has an asynchronous processing approach, which Havok's blog describes for keeping character behavior smooth during complex updates.

Havok says its products support Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox, plus PC and mobile.

Which Engines Does Havok Work With?

Havok works with any proprietary engine through its SDK, and with Unreal Engine through three maintained plugins. Those are Havok Physics for Unreal, Havok Cloth for Unreal and Havok Navigation for Unreal.

If you build on Unreal, the plugin route saves integration work. Havok's pricing page says the lower tier includes Havok for Unreal, and a March 2025 pricing post says studios can build and modify the plugins.

If you run an in-house engine, expect to do the integration yourself, with guidance from Havok after an evaluation is approved.

How Does Havok's Licensing Work?

Havok's licensing has two tiers split by per-title budget. Up to $20m, the published price is $50,000 per Havok product, valid for development and release, with no royalty.

Above $20m, Havok lists "Contact for Pricing" and flexible license options. That tier includes all products, full support and access to full source.

The lower tier lists community support, not full support. Budget for that if your team relies on vendor help during crunch.

Fits When, Skip When

Havok fits studios shipping console titles that need proven physics and can pay a flat fee. It suits teams that value a no-royalty model on a title that may sell well.

Skip it if your budget for middleware is zero, since open-source options such as Jolt Physics, Bullet and Recast and Detour exist. Skip it as a solo developer or hobbyist too. Havok says it only answers inquiries from company email addresses.

Also skip it if you need a self-serve trial. Havok publishes none.

What to Check Before You Request an Evaluation

Before you contact Havok, confirm four things. They decide whether the evaluation goes anywhere.

1. Which of the three products your title needs, since each is priced per product.
2. Whether your per-title budget sits under or over $20m, which sets the tier.
3. Whether you need source access, which the listed lower tier doesn't include.
4. Your engine path: Unreal plugin or proprietary SDK.

Then use a company email on the Evaluate page. A Havok representative follows up with access details and integration guidance, according to the company's FAQ.

Sponsored placement, if any, is labeled separately on this site. Prices here come from Havok's own pricing page and may change.