Fruit Ninja studio Halfbrick hit with layoffs: 'we are navigating a challenging period for the games industry'

An Australian studio responsible for a raft of hugely successful games, including Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, has announced layoffs. Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios confirmed as much on LinkedIn last week, just months after the release of its most recent game Bluey's Quest for the Gold Pen.

"Today we’re sharing that Halfbrick is making changes to our team structure, including role redundancies in Australia and the conclusion of a number of engagements internationally," a spokesperson for the company wrote.

"This was not a decision we made lightly. Like many studios, we are navigating a challenging period for the games industry, and we’ve had to make some hard choices about how we move forward. These changes are driven by organizational and strategic priorities, not individual performance."

Halfbrick was founded in 2001 and at first specialised in handheld games. The bulk of Halfbrick's best known output is for mobile, though the studio has also developed games for PC and console. Most notable are Fruit Ninja VR and Fruit Ninja VR 2, though the aforementioned Bluey game is also coming to PC at some point. Fruit Ninja was an astonishing success: five years after its 2010 release for smartphones it had sold one billion copies.

I've reached out to Halfbrick to find out more about the scale of the redundancies, and will update when I hear back.

"We also want to say clearly that we would strongly recommend any of these individuals to any team that is hiring," the statement goes on. "Halfbrick has always cared deeply about the people we bring in, and there is exceptional talent among those now looking for their next opportunity.

"Our focus right now is on handling this transition with care, respect, and genuine appreciation for the people who have contributed so much to Halfbrick." You can read the full statement on LinkedIn.