Halfbrick Studios
 | |
| 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 |
Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd is an Australian video game developer 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] 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.[5]
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.[6][7][8] Tank Turn Tactics was also featured in a 2021 documentary by People Make Games.[9]
In 2017, Halfbrick Studios was inducted into the QBLHOF.[10] Halfbrick is one of Australia's fastest growing companies, and is among Australia's most notable cultural exports.[11]
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.[12]
Fruit Ninja
[edit]By 2012, Fruit Ninja was on one third of all iPhones in the United States.[13] By 2015, the game had been downloaded over 1 billion times.[14] In 2020, the company announced a "complete rebuild" of the game with a new engine and new graphics.[13]
Games
[edit]| 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 | |
| The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night | PlayStation 2, Wii | |
| 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 | ||
| TBA | Dan the Man 2 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b Tiara, Annisa (10 January 2023). "How Halfbrick increased user acquisition by 98% midst competitive gaming industry". The Drum. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic (3 March 2013). "How Halfbrick Studios Develops Games Like Fruit Ninja, Age Of Zombies, Dan da man And Jetpack Joyride". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- ^ "Halfbrick's Platformer 'Dan the Man' Launching October 6th". Touch Arcade. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ Snowdon, Tom (28 March 2014). "Step inside the Brisbane lab of Fruit Ninja app creators Halfbrick Studios, with Queensland Business Monthly". The Courier-Mail. News Corp. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (19 March 2012). "Halfbrick Studios acquires Onan Games for quick cross-platform ports". GamesBeat. VentureBeat. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ^ "Tank Tactics: The prototype that almost ruined Halfbrick". Engadget. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Andrew, Keith (29 March 2013). "#GDC 2013: How a game that never was almost tore Halfbrick apart". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Scimeca, Dennis (3 April 2013). "Halfbrick's Luke Muscat talks Tank Turn Tactics: The prototype the studio was forced to ban". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ Walker, Alex (21 July 2021). "Halfbrick Once Made A Game So Good They Banned It From Their Office". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Halfbrick Studios". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame | State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ Long, Neil (26 September 2023). "Fruit Ninja maker Halfbrick is going all-in on subscriptions". Mobilegamer.biz. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ a b "Fruit Ninja Is Getting Remastered". Kotaku Australia. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ Serrels, Mark (8 November 2016). "Australia's Most Successful Game Studio Is Having An Identity Crisis". Kotaku. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
- ^ "Halfbrick Studios – Rocket Power: Beach Bandits". halfbrick.com. Halfbrick Studios. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Halfbrick Studios digital story and oral history: Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame 2017, State Library of Queensland
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