NVIDIA Replies To AMD's Claims Of Cash Bribes On PhysX

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AMD Senior Manager Richard Huddy drew some headlines last week when he boldly said that developers only included PhysX in their games was because “they’re paid to do it.” Huddy, who handles developer relations for AMD, went on a considerable rant saying that most developers don’t care to use NVIDIA PhysX technology – and that they only included it because of the cash incentives and marketing that NVIDIA provides. Now, NVIDIA fires back.

NVIDIA’s director of developer relations, Ashutosh Rege, sat down with xbitlabs.com and replied to AMD and Mr. Huddy’s claims that NVIDIA pays developers to use PhysX middleware. “There could be no deal under which we would cash somebody in for using PhysX,” Rege says. Rege points out that the physics engines of a game title must be decided long before development on the game begins – so it would be impossible for NVIDIA come in and bribe developers to add PhysX at the last minute.

Rege does admit that NVIDIA offers support to developers who choose to use PhysX. “We will, of course, help them to do that; we will help them with engineering and we will help them even with artists, who also go on-site and spend a lot of time with their artists to [help creating content]. Adding GPU PhysX to a game is a lot more different than adding just general physics effects. There is more work than adding post-processing effects.”

Rege also admits that NVIDIA does help game developers with marketing for the 15 or so PC game titles that offer enhanced physics processing if one has a NVIDIA graphics card. Rege replied to claims that NVIDIA purposely works with developers to ‘lockout’ performance on ATI card for certain PC games that are marketed with the “NVIDIA: The Way It’s Meant To Be Played” tag line. “What we do when we add GPU PhysX engagement with the developer is that in no shape or form we do anything harmful for the rest of the platforms, those that do not support GPU PhysX. It is just an additive value to our GeForce customers and eventually it boosts game experience on the PC,” Rege said.

ATI and NVIDIA are certainly locked in a heated rivalry for graphics card dollars, and there certainly is a lot of tension between the two companies.