SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 06, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Game Developers Conference -- Autodesk, Inc., ADSK -2.24% has entered into a landmark license agreement allowing Nintendo Co., Ltd. to provide Autodesk Gameware technology to its licensed developers creating video games for the upcoming Wii U platform and helping differentiate Nintendo's new hardware, expected to hit store shelves later this year.

Under terms of the agreement, Autodesk, Inc. has granted Nintendo the right to provide licensed Wii U game developers with three Gameware products: Autodesk Scaleform middleware for user interface development, Autodesk Kynapse middleware for artificial intelligence and Autodesk HumanIK middleware for interactive character animation.

The Autodesk Gameware product line is comprised of production-proven game development solutions that have been used in at least 1,000 games to date. This technology helps developers enhance production value while reducing development time, enabling them to focus efforts on creating compelling gameplay that resonates with consumers.

"Autodesk Gameware technology is used by the industry's elite development teams and has been adopted across the industry. Through our relationships with key companies like Nintendo, we can put our solutions into the hands of more game developers," said Marc Petit, Autodesk senior vice president, Media & Entertainment. "Adopting Autodesk Gameware helps streamline the production process, freeing more resources for innovation in new areas. This shift in development focus will help make the next-generation of titles more compelling than the last."