10 VR Games That Revived Awesome Game Studios Back
5. Job Simulator
Game Studio: Owlchemy Labs
Labs began making games in 2010, quickly churning out a series of quirky and likable titles for mobile platforms (e.g. Snuggle Truck, Jack Lumber) that scored stellar reviews but low-key sales.
They went bigger in 2015, with Dyscourse, a single-player survival adventure inspired by old-school point-and-click games. The game culminated in decidedly mixed results, let down by its own ambitions. It made the company seriously reconsider the direction they were heading in.
With modern VR in its nascent phase, Labs decided to jump headlong into the medium...and so, Job Simulator was born, resulting in likely the first major VR success story.
The quaint title sports a dead-simple premise, gamers had to carry out silly chores in different work environments. As a regular game, it would've flopped, but in VR it broke boundaries and surpassed 3 million in sales in its first year of release.
It has given Owlchemy a new lease on life, from a barely recognized indie studio to the most successful VR developers on the scene.
The hits have followed with Rick and Morty Simulator and Vacation Simulator, all leading to Google eagerly buying them in 2017.