Job Simulator and Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality developer Owlchemy Labs was acquired by Google for an undisclosed amount, the company announced today.
The Austin-based startup shared the news via its blog, calling it a “a REAAAALLY BIG day for Owlchemy.”
“Since we began our explorations in VR, one of our main goals was to push the medium forward as a whole,” Owlchemy co-found Alex Schwartz told Polygon. “Building killer content for everyone is a great way to push VR forward and Google shares this vision. With Google, we feel like we can advance the industry and solve tough problems together.
The blog post was light on the practical details, including the timeline of incorporating Owlchemy’s 23 employees into Google. But we did learn Owlchemy won’t be forced to just create VR experiences for Google’s own Daydream mobile VR platform.
“We’re free to build multiplatform because that’s what Owlchemy is at its heart,” Schwartz said. “It’s part of our core strategy to be everywhere and we won’t be changing that.”
Owlchemy’s first VR title, Job Simulator, was a launch title for the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR headsets, and came to Oculus Rift when the headset added its Touch controllers. Virtual Rick-ality, a VR game based on the twisted world of cartoon Rick and Morty, came to Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive last month.