Australian developer Halfbrick Studios
is celebrating a digital victory this week, announcing that its Fruit
Ninja Kinect has surpassed 1 million downloads on Xbox 360.
Originally released for smartphones and
tablets in 2010, Fruit Ninja Kinect introduced its brand of
motion-controlled fruit slaughtering to Xbox 360 owners last August. In addition to scoring high marks in our own review, Halfbrick's swipe-and-slash title was named Casual Game of
the Year at the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
"Hitting 1 million downloads for
XBLA is an awesome achievement," said Halfbrick's Phil Larsen.
"It's a milestone that proves how with the right team and
vision, a mobile game can be expanded into a much bigger franchise
across new platforms and markets and be wildly successful."
Fruit Ninja Kinect's success is owed to
its simple mechanics, accessibility, and community features. It's
also partly owed to the fact it was included as a free download
packaged in the retail package of Twisted Pixel's The Gunstringer
a month after its XBLA launch. Granted, being free doesn't always push a
game past the 1 million mark, but it certainly helps.