The Australian studio behind the popular Fruit Ninja mobile game has purchased a stake in Adelaide-based animation house The People’s Republic of Animation (PRA).
The partial acquisition is expected to strengthen Halfbrick’s production capabilities while equipping the company to grow its intellectual property across gaming and entertainment platforms. Financial details of the deal were not released.
The first collaboration between the two companies will be an animated trailer for Halfbrick’s upcoming mobile game Machine Gun Jetpack.
In a statement, Halfbrick chief executive Shainiel Deo said: "We see their narrative focus as an incredible resource for creating new and truly compelling IP. Between PRA and Halfbrick, there is barely a screen we can't reach."
PRA chief executive Sam White said: “We are very excited to be a part of Halfbrick, both to work with them to create exciting new gaming IP, and to continue to establish PRA one of the world’s leading animation studios.”
PRA’s work includes cinematics and trailers for video games, animated TV commercials and short films. PRA’s most recent short film The Cat Piano made the Oscar shortlist for the Best Animated Short in 2010.
The company said it will continue to service new and ongoing clients in the advertising and games industry. Its gaming work includes cinematics and trailers for ModNation Racers, de Blob (1 and 2), The Last Airbender, Scooby Doo: First Frights, Hellboy: the Science of Evil, Pinata: Party Animals and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Its commercials work includes TVCs for brands such as Bridgestone, Mitsubishi, Rundle Mall and Coopers, and more.
Halfbrick was founded in 2001 and has developed licensed titles for platforms such as Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and the PSP (PlayStationPortable) system. Its popular Fruit Ninja game has been downloaded millions of times.