Halfbrick Studios
Australian video game developer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd is an Australian video game developer and publisher based in Brisbane.[1] The company primarily worked on licensed games until 2008. The company is best known for Fruit Ninja (2010), Jetpack Joyride (2011), and Dan the Man (2015).[2][3][1] They create games for Windows, Xbox, PlayStation, Windows Phone, Android and iOS.[2] Outside of their Brisbane headquarters, Halfbrick also has offices in Sydney, Adelaide, Spain, Bulgaria, and Los Angeles.[4]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2001 In Toowong, Australia |
| Headquarters | , Australia |
Number of locations | 3 (2019) |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Shainiel Deo (CEO) Luke Muscat (COO) |
| Products | Video games |
Number of employees | 100+ (2019) |
| Website | halfbrick |
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.[5] By 2015, the game had been downloaded over 1 billion times.[6]
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, Android, Adobe Flash and HTML5 development.[7]
In 2013, COO Luke Muscat held a Game Developers Conference 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.[8][9][10] Tank Turn Tactics was also featured in a 2021 documentary by People Make Games.[11]
In 2017, Halfbrick Studios was inducted into the QBLHOF.[12] Halfbrick is one of Australia's fastest growing companies, and is among Australia's most notable cultural exports.[13] In 2020, the company announced a "complete rebuild" of Fruit Ninja with a new engine and new graphics.[5]
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.[14]
Games
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Rocket Power: Beach Bandits[15] | GameCube, PlayStation 2 |
| 2003 | Fuzz & Rocket (cancelled) | Game Boy Advance |
| 2004 | Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue | |
| 2005 | Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan | |
| 2006 | Barnyard | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender | ||
| Nicktoons: Battle for Volcano Island | ||
| 2007 | Heatseeker | PlayStation Portable |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth | Game Boy Advance | |
| 2008 | Hellboy: The Science of Evil | PlayStation Portable |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno | Nintendo DS | |
| 2009 | Marvel Super Hero Squad | |
| Halfbrick Blast Off | Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 | |
| Halfbrick Echoes | Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Zune HD | |
| Halfbrick Rocket Racing / Aero Racing | Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3 | |
| 2010 | Age of Zombies | iOS, Android, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Ouya |
| Fruit Ninja | iOS, Android, Bada, Windows Phone, Symbian | |
| Halfbrick Blast Off | iOS | |
| Sunset Studio: Behind the Scenes! | Microsoft Windows | |
| The Last Airbender | Nintendo DS | |
| Monster Dash | iOS, Android | |
| Raskulls | Xbox 360 | |
| 2011 | de Blob 2 | Nintendo DS |
| Fruit Ninja HD | Microsoft Windows | |
| Fruit Ninja FX | Arcade | |
| Fruit Ninja Kinect | Xbox 360 | |
| Fruit Ninja Frenzy | ||
| Age of Zombies | iOS, Android | |
| Monster Dash | Google Chrome | |
| Jetpack Joyride | Android, iOS | |
| Fruit Ninja: Puss In Boots | ||
| Steambirds: Survival | ||
| Age of Zombies Anniversary | iOS | |
| 2012 | Jetpack Joyride | Android, BlackBerry OS, Facebook, PlayStation Vita, Windows Runtime |
| Fruit Ninja (Microsoft Store) | Windows Runtime | |
| 2013 | Fish out of Water | Android, iOS |
| Fruit Ninja (Leap Motion) | Microsoft Windows | |
| Fruit Ninja Skittles | Android, iOS | |
| Band Stars | ||
| Colossatron: Massive World Threat | ||
| Shadows Remain | ||
| 2014 | Bears vs. Art | |
| Birzzle Fever | ||
| Yes Chef | ||
| Radical Rappelling | ||
| Top Farm | ||
| 2015 | Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 | Xbox One |
| Fruit Ninja Academy: Math Master | Android, iOS | |
| 2016 | Fruit Ninja VR | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation VR, Meta Quest, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, Meta Quest 3 |
| Star Skater | Android, iOS | |
| Dan The Man | ||
| 2019 | Magic Brick Wars | |
| 2020 | Battle Racing Stars | |
| Wobble Drop | ||
| Fruit Ninja 2 | ||
| 2022 | Jetpack Joyride 2 | iOS |
| 2023 | Fruit Ninja VR 2 | Microsoft Windows, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, Meta Quest 3 |
| Colossatron: Cosmic Crisis | iOS, Android | |
| Jumper's Quest | ||
| Brickle | ||
| Gibberish | ||
| 2025 | Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen | iOS, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows |
| TBA | Dan the Man 2 | iOS, Android |