Halfbrick Studios

Not to be confused with HB Studios.

Halfbrick Studios Pty Ltd
Company typePrivate
IndustryVideo games
Founded2001; 23 years ago (2001) In Toowong, Australia
Headquarters
Brisbane
,
Australia
Number of locations
3 (2019)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Shainiel Deo (CEO)
Luke Muscat
(COO)
ProductsVideo games
Number of employees
100+ (2019)
Websitehalfbrick.com

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 adds or further in-app purchases.[12]

  1. ^ a b Tiara, Annisa (10 January 2023). "How Halfbrick increased user acquisition by 98% midst competitive gaming industry". The Drum. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Halfbrick's Platformer 'Dan the Man' Launching October 6th". Touch Arcade. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Takahashi, Dean (19 March 2012). "Halfbrick Studios acquires Onan Games for quick cross-platform ports". GamesBeat. VentureBeat. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Tank Tactics: The prototype that almost ruined Halfbrick". Engadget. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  7. ^ Andrew, Keith (29 March 2013). "#GDC 2013: How a game that never was almost tore Halfbrick apart". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Walker, Alex (21 July 2021). "Halfbrick Once Made A Game So Good They Banned It From Their Office". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Halfbrick Studios". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame. 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame". Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame | State Library Of Queensland. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
  12. ^ Long, Neil (26 September 2023). "Fruit Ninja maker Halfbrick is going all-in on subscriptions". Mobilegamer.biz. Retrieved 11 August 2024.