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.
