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Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd is an
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n
video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...
based in
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. The company primarily worked on licensed games until 2008. The company is best known for ''
Fruit Ninja ''Fruit Ninja'' is a video game developed by Halfbrick originally released on April 21, 2010. In the game, the player must slice fruit that is thrown into the air by swiping the device's touch screen with their finger(s) or (in the case of the ...
'' (2010), ''
Jetpack Joyride ''Jetpack Joyride'' is a side-scrolling endless runner action video game created by Halfbrick Studios. It was released for iOS devices on the App Store on September 1, 2011 and has been ported to other systems. It was released online as a Flash v ...
'' (2011), and ''
Dan the Man ''Dan The Man'' is a 2015 Mobile game, mobile Platform game, platform Beat 'em up, beat-'em up video game developed and published by Halfbrick Studios in partnership with Studio JOHO. Based on a web series of the same name, it was released for t ...
'' (2015). They create games for Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Windows Phone, Android and iOS. Outside of their Brisbane headquarters, Halfbrick also has offices in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
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,
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,
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, and
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.


History

The company rose to prominence in 2010 with their game ''Fruit Ninja''; by 2012, the game was on one third of all iPhones in the United States. By 2015, the game had been downloaded over 1 billion times. In March 2012, Halfbrick Studios acquired Onan Games for an undisclosed price to make use of their software Mandreel, which allows games to support
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
,
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
,
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...
and
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development. In 2013, COO Luke Muscat held a
Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
talk about a physical game, ''Tank Turn Tactics'', that was invented to be played internally by studio employees, but had to be banned due to its impact on workplace morale. The ability to gift "action points" to allies caused factions to form within the office, leading to betrayals that made employees refuse to work together. ''Tank Turn Tactics'' was also featured in a 2021 documentary by
People Make Games ''People Make Games'' (PMG) is a British investigative video game journalism YouTube channel. The channel focuses on the developers and people who make video games. ''People Make Games'' has reported on topics such as video game crunch, outs ...
. In 2017, Halfbrick Studios was inducted into the QBLHOF. Halfbrick is one of Australia's fastest growing companies, and is among Australia's most notable cultural exports. In 2020, the company announced a "complete rebuild" of ''Fruit Ninja'' with a new engine and new graphics. In 2023, Halfbrick Studios announced that they were switching from their free-to-play into a subscription model, by launching Halfbrick+. For a monthly fee, subscribers can play all the studio's games without ads or further in-app purchases.


Games


References


External links

*
Halfbrick Studios digital story and oral history: Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2017
State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...
Video game companies of Australia Video game companies established in 2001 Video game development companies Companies based in Brisbane Australian companies established in 2001 Apple Design Awards recipients {{Australia-videogame-company-stub