Google today announced it has acquired Owlchemy Labs, the VR game studio that has such titles to its credit as Job Simulator and Rick and Morty Virtual Rick-ality.
The above development can be seen to be part of a greater push among Silicon Valley firms to have more VR and AR content out in the fray. For, it is only after there is enough content to watch will the segment really take off.
Owlchemy Labs, on its part, stated they are thrilled to become a part of Google. The company which started its operations in 2010 has been working on a $5 million seed funding from companies such as Capital Factory, Qualcomm Ventures, Colopl VR Fund, HTC and The Venture Reality Fund.
The Austin-based company in a blog post also revealed they look forward to creating content for the many platforms they now have a presence in. Those include the HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, and the Oculus Rift.
The blog further revealed the company would continue to focus on developing games that have human hand based interactions. In fact, that happens to be one of the biggest USPs of Owlchemy as their games come closest to mimicking real hands.
As for their creations, Job Simulator can be considered the brightest spot in their portfolio, having adjudged the bestselling game in the PS VR store. The game had even gone on to garner revenues in excess of $3 million, not a mild feat considering the size of the VR headsets segment itself at the moment.
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Google also has enough reasons to tap into the growing VR craze. With more VR games out in the wild, it hopes the same will further enhance the appeal of its Android platform. The Mountain View Company has already been investing million to make VR a core feature of Android, a key aspect of the mobile platform that it refers to as the Daydream.
Google also sells the Cardboard, a rudimentary VR headset that it had begun producing even when the VR segment was just taking shape. The set though has gone on to sell more than 10 million units. Meanwhile, a more robust VR headset is also touted to be in the making.
