Autodesk has killed off its array of game middleware products and they will no longer be available for purchase.

Tech given the chop are user interface tool Scaleform, global illumination middleware Beast and AI tools Human IK and Navigation.

Current middleware customers will be given access to the source code of the final versions of Scaleform and Navigation, and the binary files for Human IK and Beast.

Autodesk said all current maintenance contracts will be honoured until their end of term and it will continue to provide ongoing support and bug fixes for customers until then.

New engine tools coming?

Subscriptions for Autodesk’s game engine Stingray are still available, however, as are licenses for its other tools such as Maya, Maya LT and 3ds Max.

While developers can still license Stingray, it’s unclear what effect the decision to stop the sale of its middleware products will have on the engine.

An Autodesk employee recently wrote on the Stingray forums that a replacement system “based on the core Scaleform GFx rendering technology” is in development for the engine.