Halfbrick releases a free version of Fruit Ninja onto the Android Market

Halfbrick's hit Android game, Fruit Ninja, now comes in a full version that requires you to spend absolutely nothing. That's right, Fruit Ninja is now free to download and play in all it's full version glory. This is great for anyone who hasn't played the game yet and have been wanting to try it out.

However, instead of a lite/demo version, the free one is a full version that is ad supported. This is similar to how Angry Birds by Rovio has done it except backwards. While Angry Birds came out free first, then launched it's ad-free paid version, Halfbrick launched the paid version first with this version landing on the market today. You get all the features you would find in the full paid version except you'll just have to deal with ads instead of paying for the game.

We also have a feeling that Halfbrick is migrating into the Freemium model and that this is the first step for that to happen with Fruit Ninja. They already have Freemium games in the works such as Machine Gun Jetpack which features in-game purchases. This could be what Halfbrick is hinting at with the changelog description:

1. With the release of Fruit Ninja Free comes a host of new and exciting changes. Apart from being free Fruit Ninja now provides language support for over 14 languages!
2. We have also not only crammed in more languages, but managed to improve performance across a range of devices.
3. Stay tuned for heaps of new content (and a few surprises) coming real soon!

Only time will tell if we end up seeing Fruit Ninja getting an update that suddenly has in-game purchases available but don't be surprised if it happens sooner then you think.

Developer Website: Halfbrick

Website Referenced: TalkAndroid

Android Market Link: Fruit Ninja Free