ALIAS|WAVEFRONT XBOX DEAL
March 13, 2001

Alias|Wavefront has signed an agreement with Microsoft to become an official tools and middleware developer for the Xbox. The company will be releasing its Maya software for the system.

"Game developers looking to create the most graphically advanced future-generation titles need look no farther than the Xbox," states Seamus Blackley, Xbox Technology Officer. "A key part of the design process is having access to the richest, most robust and flexible 3D graphics software. In order to turn a creative vision into reality the game designer must have the right tools. We're very excited to have Alias|Wavefront in the Xbox fold."

"I am always amazed when I see the outstanding caliber of the work our customers produce," says Tom Harper, Alias|Wavefront. "This is particularly true of the early Xbox titles that are under development with Maya: the depth and quality of the content is truly breathtaking. Our Xbox development customers consistently praise the Maya API and MEL scripting language saying it allows them to get up to speed on this important new platform quickly and easily."

"Captivating graphics are one of the primary ingredients in any successful game," says John Rix, Director, Digital Production Services at EA. "Alias|Wavefront has been adding features to Maya which address our game production needs and we have made it an integral part of our 3D pipelines. Maya's flexibility and extensibility has made it indispensable on some of our major hit titles."

"For Oddworld's cinematic production needs we used Maya because it is the strongest complete package solution on the market today for the artistically inclined," states Lorne Lanning, President/Creative Director, Oddworld Inhabitants. "When it comes to modeling, character animation, atmospheric and particle effects, Maya has served us well. Having a single package that allows us to design our own interface, write our own utilities, run scripting and which gives us the ability to pick from a large selection of existing plug-ins, adds up to more time focused on the quality of content and less time wasted wrestling with tools."