Fruit Ninja Sequel Forthcoming, Thanks in Part to Public Funding
By Yannick LeJacq | December 5, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
Halfbrick Studios, creators of the popular and insanely addictive Fruit Ninja that recently found its way to the XBox 360 via its new Kinect hardware, is working on a sequel to Fruit Ninja.
Given the success of this casual title, this news is not entirely surprising or unprecedented in the world of videogames. What is unique, however, is the fact that its development is being publicly funded by the Australian government. at its new government-supported studio in Sydney, Australia. In mid-October, Halfbrick revealed that the Brisbane-based company would open a new studio in Syndey, made possible by public resources.
The studio’s formation was a result of a new $3 million “Interactive Media Fund,” according to New South Wales Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, but it is not yet known how much of that fund went to Halfbrick.
“The new Sydney team will develop the next evolution of the Fruit Ninja games franchise,” Stoner explained. “The new game will involve players launching a series of fruit to knock ninjas off their towers in a 3D world, with each fruit having special powers.”
While the game does not have a firm release date, it is expected to launch on iOS platforms some time in 2012, with future ports arriving some time after the initial release. Despite Stoner’s enthusiastic description of the game, the studio itself was quick to respond that his reports were not final.
“At this stage, we are beginning the prototyping phase of our Sydney-based Fruit Ninja project, and all gameplay details are still completely unconfirmed,” said Halfbrick’s marketing director Phil Larsen. ”We’ll be making something new, and it will be a great addition to our Fruit Ninja franchise, but the game could definitely take many different directions — the team is just getting started, and game development is a long and complicated road!”
Stoner explained the $3 million fund is designed to support local developers over the next two years. It appears that Australia, not unlike Canada in recent years, might be attempting to court new game developers to set up shop in their country to attract a lucrative entertainment industry to the country. Since larger studios such as EA’s Visceral Games have recently closed the doors to their Australian offices, perhaps government officials are hoping to have better luck with indie developers. An article in the Illawarra Mercury gives specific information about Halfbrick’s move in particular.
