14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA has announced that the PhysX source code is now freely available on Github to any developer interested in this technology.
Offering the PhysX source code freely is a very big shift in NVIDIA's policy, but it shows that the company is now very much aware that this is one of the ways to improve the Linux integration of its software solutions. NVIDIA already made the SDK free for the Windows platform, but now the hardware company is extending that policy to Windows, Linux, OSx and Android.
NVIDIA has been working on PhysX for almost a decade and it's been a closely guarded secret, but the world is changing and so is the company. They still have a long way to go, especially if we keep in mind that the drivers are not open source, or at least not yet. In any case, the simple fact that an important piece of software like PhysX can be downloaded freely is a huge step forward.
There are some rules to access the PhysX source code
Even if the NVIDIA developers provide a link to GitHub, it's not opened to everyone. First of all, you will need to be a registered developer on the developer.nvidia.com website. You will need to agree with NVIDIA's terms of usage and you will need to get approved by them. Only after these steps have been taken, will you finally get access to the source code, but this is all understandable. After all, this is not exactly open source.
"NVIDIA today put more than a decade of research, development and investment in gaming physics into the hands of game developers – by offering free source code for NVIDIA PhysX on GitHub. The PhysX software development kit (SDK) is already free on Windows platforms. We're now extending this to include PhysX Clothing and PhysX Destruction, enabling game developers to easily create a more interactive gaming environment. And starting this month, the PhysX SDK is available free with full source code for Windows, Linux, OSx and Android," wrote the company on developer.nvidia.com.
Open source PhysX opens up a wealth of opportunities, but it will also accelerate the availability of this technology on Linux as well. It's been enabled on Linux platforms for a few months. Games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2, Lords of the Fallen, Monster Hunter Online, Daylight, make heavy use of PhysX and GameWorks, and some of these titles already have Linux support.