VR is still a new thing, and games that utilise VR are still at its infancy. One of the more standout titles we saw from last year is Owlchemy Labs’ Job Simulator, a VR game available for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PSVR, tasking you to do mundane tasks.
While that may not sound appealing, the novelty comes from doing all these mundane stuff in VR. Grabbing ingredients in the refrigerator, tossing stuff and cooking up toast is another whole new interaction when it is done in VR.
The success of Job Simulator is not a one-off either, they have recently released Rick & Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, based on the animated series.
Today, the studio announced they have now been acquired by Google. The team of 23 people will still continue making games for the three VR headsets. As stated in their blog post:
“Our plan to build awesome things will continue forward stronger than ever. This means Owlchemy will continue building high quality VR content for platforms like the HTC Vive, Oculus Touch, and PlayStation VR.
This means continuing to focus on hand interactions and high quality user experiences, like with Job Simulator. This means continuing our mission to build VR for everyone, and doing all of this as the same silly Owlchemy Labs you know and love.
We are continuing to do all of this with even more support and focus on building awesome stuff. It’s incredibly exciting that Google and Owlchemy are so well aligned on our goals and vision for the future of VR.”
Google has explored the potential of VR before as they have released apps like Tilt Brush and Google Earth for VR devices. But with this acquisition, the Mountain View company will now have access to the talents and minds behind one of the best VR experiences, while Owlchemy Labs now have a ton of resources to back whatever their next VR thing will be.