Australian developer Halfbrick Studios is banking on ad-supported versions of Fruit Ninja to generate 70 million downloads in China over the next six months. Halfbrick CEO Shainiel Deo told attendees at the Mobitalk Conference in Beijing that the game has already been downloaded 20 million times in the Chinese region, representing 30 percent of all downloads worldwide.
"When you see the rate of downloads per day and the rate its increasing, I don't think it's going to be a big deal to hit that target [of 70 million]," he said, as reported by IDG News. “The Chinese market is our number one market going forward.”
"We built the game to be accessible to a wide audience," he said. "I'm just grateful Chinese fans love it so much."
Unfortunately with the huge market comes a huge problem: Piracy. Deo estimates that the game has a piracy rate of 50 percent in China. That’s not stopping Halfbrick, who plans to turn Fruit Ninja into a major franchise like its competitor, Rovio.
"I think we are really following in the footsteps of Rovio," Deo said.
Is Halfbrick on the same path as Rovio?
