Fruit Ninja Dev Halfbrick Opening Sydney Office

Australian developer and publisher Halfbrick, maker of popular iOS game Fruit Ninja, is opening a second studio, and is currently recruiting for a number of positions at the new Sydney branch. Founded in 2001, the Brisbane-based company currently employs more than 50 workers, and is now hiring more full-time programmers, artists, and designers for its new office in Australia's biggest city, according to a job listing posted last week. Halfbrick's employees work in "smaller, self-directed teams and are given opportunities to contribute to both the design and implementation across all of [their] games" on smartphone, digital download, and social platforms. The company spent much of its first years working on licensed titles, but it gained more recognition last year with Fruit Ninja -- the title has seen several follow-ups on various platforms, and will soon have a Puss in Boots movie tie-in with Dreamworks. This new branch's opening comes as many other Australian studios have shuttered in recent months, including THQ Australia and Bluetongue, Electronic Arts' Visceral Games branch in Melbourne, L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi, and most recently KMM Brisbane.