Google buys award-winning VR studio Owlchemy Labs

Rick and Morty VRGoogle has acquired Texas-based video game developer Owlchemy Labs, the VR studio behind Rick and Morty Simulator: Virtual Rick-ality and award-winning game Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives. The financial terms are undisclosed.

Owlchemy Labs, founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2010, has developed several VR, will have its entire 23-person team join up with Google’s Daydream VR division but will continue to produce VR titles under the Owlchemy Labs name.

“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 humour,” said Relja Markovic, engineering director for VR and AR at Google, in a blog post. “Together, well 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.”

Google’s decision to make a move toward making more VR content in-house is an interesting one. It comes just a week after rival Facebook decided to shutter its Emmy Award-winning VR film division, Oculus Story Studio.

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