Google places its bet on the most successful VR game studios, Owlchemy Labs

Google now backs one of the most successful VR game studios, Owlchemy Labs. Yes, Google has acquired the game studios that is best known for developing popular HTC Vive launch game Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.

In a blog post, Owlchemy Labs wrote, “Today is a REAAAALLY BIG day for Owlchemy. We’re positively thrilled to announce that Owlchemy Labs has been acquired by Google!”

Founded in 2010, Owlchemy has raised over $5 million in funding from investors like Capital Factory, Qualcomm Ventures, Colopl VR Fund, HTC and The Venture Reality Fund.

Owlchemy will continue releasing VR games for multiple platforms, but now with support from Google. Owlchemy co-founder Alex Schwartz said, “We have a slate of original games that we have in the production and prototyping phase, and we're going to continue to do that. We're very excited to continue to do that with the support of Google behind us.”

Job Simulator, which was also the best-selling game on the PlayStation VR store, generated over $3 Million in revenue.

Considering the limited number of devices are currently capable of running on Daydream, Google is investing more into virtual reality to make its Android smartphone OS the de facto platform for VR through its Daydream initiative.
Relja Markovic, Google’s engineering director of VR and AR, wrote in a blog post, “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 is expected to reveal more details at its I/O developer conference next week. That means you can expect more details shortly.