NaturalMotion Ltd. today announced that Namco, Japan, one of the world's leading games developers, has chosen endorphin to help produce its upcoming triple-A release, Tekken 5.

Due to hit arcades before the end of the year and to debut on consoles in 2005, Tekken 5 represents the next iteration of what is undoubtedly one of the biggest game franchises in the industry's history. A decade on from its original release, it's still pushing the boundaries of the fighting game genre too, as its use of endorphin proves.

"Endorphin allows us to create realistic fight actions and reactions very quickly, helping us to build great content for Tekken 5," comments Shinichiro Yoda, of Namco. Based on the company's revolutionary Dynamic Motion Synthesis technology, endorphin uses AI and dynamics simulation to create 3D character animation in real-time, thus dramatically accelerating 3D animation pipelines in games and visual effect studios. Among other things, endorphin allows game developers to simulate towards desired endposes, thus creating seamless transitions between the resultant animation clips. Due to its real-time synthesis technology, NaturalMotion estimates that endorphin can cut animation costs by up to 80% for action-related titles.

"We are proud that Namco has selected endorphin for such a high-profile title," comments Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion, " and we are delighted to see that they have already used it in the Tekken 5 trailer."