Google acquires Job Simulator studio Owlchemy Labs
"With Google we're free to pursue raw creation and sprint toward interesting problems in these early days of VR"
Known for its award-winning Job Simulator title, Austin, Texas-based Owlchemy Labs is one of the top VR studios in the business, and now it belongs to Google. In separate blog posts, both Google and Owlchemy Labs announced the deal without disclosing purchase price or other specifics of the acquisition.
Owlchemy Labs said, "We set out on a journey over six years ago to build the kinds of games we wanted to see exist. Over those years, we learned that Owlchemy, at its core, cares deeply about a few key things: building quality multi-platform games, solving tough problems with a small but absurdly talented team, sharing our learnings with the community, and Austin's famous tacos. Now, as we look to the future with Google by our side, we couldn't be happier. 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...
"We're insanely excited to join the Google family and we cannot freaking wait to show you what we're concocting next at Owlchemy Labs. The future of VR is extremely bright, so we're donning our lab goggles just in case."
For its part, Google commented, "Today, we're thrilled to welcome Owlchemy Labs to Google. They've created award-winning games like Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality which have really thoughtful interactive experiences that are responsive, intuitive, and feel natural. They've helped set a high bar for what engagement can be like in virtual worlds, and do it all with a great sense of humor!
"Together, we'll be working to create engaging, immersive games and developing new interaction models across many different platforms to continue bringing the best VR experiences to life. There is so much more to build and learn, so stay tuned!"
Google's big push in VR thus far is with the Daydream mobile platform. There's no doubt the company can benefit from the expertise of folks like Owlchemy Labs. Let's hope that Owlchemy's creative freedom isn't dampened at all by being absorbed by a behemoth like Google. GamesIndustry.biz recently chatted with Owlchemy boss Alex Schwartz all about the VR/AR space and where it's headed.