Monolith sends news of the formation of LithTech Inc., "a subsidiary dedicated to creating the standard in real time 3D development and networked multimedia operating systems." Here's the full release, which also announces the hiring of Dr. Gregory Whitten as Chief Software Architect:

Kirkland, WA (January 27, 2000) Monolith Productions today announced the formation of LithTech Inc., a subsidiary dedicated to creating the standard in real time 3D development and networked multimedia operating systems. As its first official action, LithTech has named Dr. Gregory Whitten-19 year veteran of Microsoft, as Chief Software Architect.

"LithTech Inc.'s ability to attract someone of Dr. Whitten's caliber confirms our belief that our technology implementation is state of the art," comments Jason Hall, CEO for Monolith Productions and LithTech Inc. "Our vision is to combine strong leadership with experienced professionals to create the first company dedicated to serving the maturing real time 3D market."

Dr. Whitten is currently Co-Chairman of NumeriX Corporation. He retired from Microsoft in 1998. His research interests revolve around large-scale, concurrent object oriented systems and software architectures. During his impressive 19 year career with Microsoft, Dr. Whitten designed and implemented many pieces of the BASIC, Quick BASIC and Visual BASIC interpreters and compilers and the common cross-language compiler and runtime technologies. In addition, Dr. Whitten started the Windows project, architected the GDI graphics and device model as well as the memory and programming models for Windows and OS/2. He was also responsible for initiating Microsoft's company-wide object oriented software strategy including leading the design groups for OLE 1.0, 2.0, COM and OLE controls which became DCOM and ActiveX. Additionally, he worked on software strategies for the Office, Back Office and Windows product lines. Dr. Whitten has a Ph.D. from Harvard University where he did original research in numerical analysis, analysis of algorithms and econometrics.

"LithTech is a perfect complement to my technical interests, and I look forward to joining the team," says Dr. Whitten. "Together we can move gaming to a new level of sophistication and capabilities."

The LithTech 3D Engine is a licensable technology for multiple platforms that functions as a complete 3D game operating system, which allows developers to easily design, develop and focus on content without reinventing technology for each project.