March 24, 2004 - San Jose, CA, USA

For Immediate Release

Virtools™ Transforms its Software Suite Offer and Launches the Virtools Dev 3.0 Development Platform for Interactive 3D Content and Video Games

San Jose, March 24, 2004 - Virtools™, leading provider of interactive 3D authoring tools, announced the release of the Virtools Software Suite and of Version 3.0 of its highly acclaimed flagship product, Virtools Dev.

Virtools publishes a suite of software solutions used to create interactive 3D applications for simulation/virtual reality, as well as video games and marketing/multimedia applications. Virtools' revolutionary interactive 3D technology makes learning complex game or multimedia production easier than ever before.

Marking the release of Version 3.0 of its core authoring platform Virtools Dev , and in response to multiple and ever-changing market needs, Virtools has restructured its offer to provide greater flexibility with the Virtools Software Suite.

With its newly revamped architecture, Virtools' offer remains a complete development environment based on Virtools' innovative approach to interactive 3D content creation. Based on Virtools Dev as the main authoring hub, the Virtools Software Suite offers a multi-faceted, streamlined framework, while also clarifying the delivery phase to provide powerful end user experiences via free download of the Virtools Web Player or custom players/executables.


The Virtools Software Suite is particularly geared to creating and publishing specialized content such as games. With Dev 3.0 users now have access to low-level features such as programmable vertex and pixel shaders, along with the Action Manager for smoother development and NXN alienbrain asset management integration for improved teamwork and productivity. New behaviors include Web BBs for dynamic file download and content exchange to and from webservers (media, database etc).

Breaking away from traditional authoring environments, Virtools solutions help optimize timescales and budgets to help meet game production requirements on schedule while significantly reducing production costs and overall risks.

Virtools Dev has already been chosen by renowned game developers and publishers such as Microids that trusted once again Virtools for its latest release, Syberia 2.

Virtools' intuitive graphical programming language provided the main development hub for the entire team, allowing considerable reductions in overall production time. With optimized workflow and a seamless development/testing process, team members were able to make modifications and see them instantly in the game environment. Thanks to Virtools' collaborative authoring platform, as well as the ease of integrating custom behaviors via the Virtools SDK and Virtools Scripting Language (VSL), the team was able to tailor the Virtools engine to meet its development needs.

About Virtools™

Virtools launched its commercial activities in 1993 with consulting and services targeting the VR sector. With the needs of this and other key markets in mind, Virtools built the company's initial software solution, Virtools Dev. As an Independent Software Vendor since Q4 1999, Virtools specializes in providing comprehensive software development environments for creating highly interactive 3D content. With several thousands of users throughout the world, Virtools is the leading provider of development environments for building interactive 3D applications.

The Virtools Software Suite is used for prototyping, developing and deploying offline and online/networked applications in the fields of industrial simulation, visualization and virtual reality, as well as video games and marketing/multimedia.

Virtools clients include major game studios such as Electronic Arts, Microïds, Microsoft Ensemble Studios, Warner Bros Online, Blue Fang Games and Ubisoft, as well as industry leaders such as EDF, EADS, CEA, CNRS, France Telecom, Matsushita, American Department of Energy, Intel, Publicis Networks/Renault, Arte TV and L'Oréal.

More information at: http://www.virtools.com

Press contacts

Virtools SA
93 rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
Julie ERCOLANI
ercolani@virtools.com
+33 1 42 71 46 86