Fruit Ninja celebrates 5th anniversary with biggest update ever - Halfbrick News
Cached copy of an article from Halfbrick, fifth-anniversary post, 2015, 2015, served from ramine.net so it stays readable if the original goes offline.
_As the fruit-slaying smartphone game smashes ONE BILLION downloads, gaming developer Halfbrick launches an all-new update to mark Fruit Ninja’s five-year anniversary_
Are YOU one of those people who take pleasure in poleaxing pineapples? What about wasting watermelons, annihilating apples, punishing peaches or obliterating oranges? Do you get a sense of satisfaction from shredding strawberries? Killing kiwifruits with a katana? Butchering bananas with a blade? Or maybe, just maybe, you get off on _TOTALLY PWNING_ pomegranates?
If so, it’s time to sharpen them swords, grasshopper… _Fruit Ninja_ not only just clocked ONE BILLION downloads, we also turned 5! And that means a brand-spanking, blade-slashing, new gore-tacular splatter-fest of an update.
Dropping THURSDAY AUGUST 6 on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android, the new _Fruit Ninja_ update is FREE for new and existing players. It’s been a fun and fruitful five years, so this is Halfbrick Studios’ way of saying “_Arigatō!”_ Whether you’re a casual fruit-slaying commuter or a dedicated smartphone shinobi, the new and improved _Fruit Ninja_ is going to rock your socks off (while no doubt infuriating grocers and sending fruitaphobes quivering into the foetal position).
Halfbrick CEO Shainiel Deo is likewise pumped about what this all means. “The latest update of _Fruit Ninja_ is really a new chapter for the game and for Halfbrick,” he said. “We are grateful for the success it’s brought, but we’re also excited by the evolution of the game… and it all starts here.”
So what’s new exactly? Well, this is a whole new competitive era for _Fruit Ninja,_ so things are about to heat up…
ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT MODE
For the first time, challenge six iconic opponents to unlock the exclusive Golden Ember Blade!
SIX NEW MINI GAMES
From juggling fruit to manipulating bombs, you can master new tricks in six unique mini games!
GOLDEN EMBER BLADE
Make it through the new Tournament Mode and you will be awarded this new bad-ass blade. Use it to trap fruit in a fiery blaze and then slice ’em twice for epic high scores!
The _FRUIT NINJA_ story
December 2009
Little-known Brisbane game developer Halfbrick Studios face a “make or break”moment – they need one game to sell really well as things aren’t looking up
January 2010
One Halfbrick designer is inspired by a late-night infomercialwhere a chef slices up fruit with a knife – the seed of an idea is born
April 2010
The game _Fruit Ninja_ is launched with little fanfare but plenty of prayers
July 2010
Fruit Ninja clocks ONE MILLION downloads
December 2010
Fruit Ninja clocks FOUR MILLION downloads
May 2011
_Fruit Ninja_ hits 300 MILLION downloads and is now on 1 in 3 smartphones in US– the Ancient Art of Fruit Slaying officially becomes a “thing”
October 2014
_MythBusters_ dedicate an ep to debunking the science of _Fruit Ninja_
__July 2015
Fruit Ninja tops ONE BILLION downloads, making it the second most-purchased app of all time on iPhone, a bona fide Australian success story and a global gaming phenomenon
SINCE THEN…
- 1 in 7 people have _Fruit Ninja_ on their smartphone
- Over 40 billion games have been played
- Over 134,000 years of gaming time clocked
- Over 2.5 trillion fruit terminated with extreme prejudice
- Plans evolve for a _Fruit Ninja_ doco which tells the whole story behind the game’s inception and how it saved (and then made) Halfbrick Studios – featuring exclusive interviews with the developers who made it, as well as commentary from the fans now hopelessly addicted to eviscerating fruit
The new _Fruit Ninja_ update is available THURSDAY AUGUST 6. It features a new Tournament Mode, six new mini-games and the Golden Ember Blade. Downloadable on App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. Going live on August 6, _Fruit Ninja_\-themed updates and events will occur across other popular Halfbrick games such as Jetpack Joyride, Yes Chef, Radical Rappelling and more.
For more information on _Fruit Ninja_ and Halfbrick Studios, contact:Amanda Lovelock – Hill+Knowlton Strategies(03) 9868 9236amanda.lovelock@hkstrategies.com