Google’s latest acquisition is a VR studio beloved by gamers. In its latest post, the search giant announced it has acquired developer Owlchemy Labs, the studio behind popular gaming titles “Job Simulator” and “Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.”
Owlchemy Labs also announced the news on its official website and it seems the team behind the successful VR games was more than thrilled with the acquisition. “Today is a REAAAALLY BIG day. We’re positively thrilled to announce that Owlchemy Labs has been acquired by Google!,” the team wrote. Established in 2010, the studio has raised $5 million in seed funding from The Venture Reality Fund, HTC, Colopl VR Fund, Qualcomm Ventures and Capital Factory.
With the help of Google, the team behind the quirky game studio will continue to create content for multiple platforms, including PS VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Exciting times for VR enthusiasts
Owlchemy just released its latest VR offering last month - “Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality” – for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Players get to take play as a clone of Morty and follow Rick as they travel through different worlds and crack puzzles. The VR studio is also known for the comical “Job Simulator,” in which players get to take on exaggerated versions of real-life jobs. From “Job Simulator” alone, the studio has gained over $3 million in sales.
Its recent undertaking, the VR game based off of the show “Rick and Morty,” was created with an open communication with Adult Swim.
Owlchemy worked on dialogues and character designs that they would pitch to the animation company for approval. In an interview with UploadVR, CEO Alex Schwartz said that the back and forth communication between the two companies served as a better workflow. “It was actually surprising, for a big IP like this, how much creative control they gave us,” Schwartz said.
”It was really an honor to be working on a thing that we loved.”
The best VR experience by Google
With its recently acquired company, Google underscores its commitment to virtual reality. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is reportedly investing a huge sum on content for the platform, much of it going toward development of video games and apps, licensing sports leagues and shooting 360-degree videos.
The partnership is good for Owlchemy Labs and Google, but it's even better for fans of VR at any level. Expect to see great and silly things in the future!
