Havok , a leading provider of 3D interactive game development technology, announces today that Microsoft and 343 Industries have integrated Havok’s AI technology into Halo: Spartan Assault on Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. The new top down shooter is set in the intense and dangerous Halo universe and provides an advanced gameplay experience with accessible controls for the ideal pick-up-and-play mobile title. Halo: Spartan Assault is available for $6.99 at the Windows Phone 8 app store.

Set between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault is the new chapter of the award-winning Halo universe that explores the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and dives deeper into the backstory of Human-Covenant wars. Players will control Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity as they fight never-before-seen battles against Covenant forces. With rich storytelling, intuitive controls, and best-in-class action, audio and graphics, Halo: Spartan Assault brings the epic scale and action of the Halo universe to mobile devices through unrivaled action and intensity.

Havok is proud to have Halo: Spartan Assault among the first Havok-powered titles on the Windows Phone 8 platform, said David Coghlan, Managing Director at Havok. Our engineering team has worked especially hard to ensure that our esteemed partners at Microsoft and co-developers at 343 Industries and Vanguard Games could create a truly ambitious and complete mobile gaming experience utilizing the same powerful AI toolset on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 that was used in Halo 4.

Since the series began in 2001, the Halo universe has been populated by a variety of powerful and cunning enemy combatants, and Havok is the perfect partner to provide the smarts that control these dangerous foes, says Dan Ayoub, Executive Producer at 343 Industries. The AI is an important ingredient in what makes the world of Halo so lively and thrilling, our collaboration with Havok and Vanguard Games has helped bring that giant expanding universe to smartphone screens.