Hello Humans!

Last month, we were thrilled to bring the Vacation Simulator demo to E3! It was a wild ride and Owlchemy’s first official showing at E3. We took on the Los Angeles Convention Center in full vacation style—donning flower leis, sun shades, and custom Vacation Simulator souvenir shirts. (More info on those soon…)

The Owls take on on Los Angeles and E3 in island style to show Vacation Simulator!

Of course, our presence at E3 wouldn’t have been possible without our fantastic partners at Sony. We can’t thank them enough for having us as part of the PSVR lineup. It was a dream come true to show off Vacation Simulator to so many eager fans—and the view from the PlayStation booth’s second floor was a vacation on its own, too!

The bird’s eye view from the Sony PlayStation booth was a vacation all on its own.

DEMOS

We were truly astounded by the positive response from everyone who played— fans, streamers, and developers alike.

Some of our favorite moments involved sharing the demo with fans trying VR for the first time. It’s always exciting when players can pick up the controllers and immediately understand how to play. Over and over we watched first-time VR users lose themselves in our world and just “get it”, full of giggles and smiles by the end of the demo!

At E3, you never know who might show up at your booth. It was a wonderful surprise when OMGitsfirefoxx stopped by to learn more about Vacation Simulator and try our demo—after donning the appropriate vacation attire, of course! She had a blast exploring the beach demo, and even made friends with a certain butterfly by the waterfall. 🦋

Check out her E3 vlog to see her unbridled joy!:

LIVESTREAM

Vacation Simulator makes a very colorful appearance on the PlayStation Liveshow.

A big highlight for us was our appearance on the PlayStation Liveshow. Devin and Chelsea got powdered and gussied up in the back before taking the stage to chat about Vacation Simulator. We showed all-new footage from the beach demo and chatted about the story and gameplay features.

Devin and Chelsea getting beautified for their big moment on-stage.

The stage for the PlayStation Liveshow was big. Like… really big. No pressure.

You can check out the full footage of Devin and Chelsea chatting Vacation Simulator on Sony’s E3 Liveshow here:

Thanks again to Sony for featuring us, and to the fans that tuned in!

PRESS

Lastly, the press response was phenomenal. We were honored when the team at Yo Soy Un Gamer gave us a nomination for Best of E3. Thanks, Team YSUG!

Vacation Simulator garners a nod from Yo Soy Un Gamer for “Best of Show” at E3!

Here are a few snippets from the E3 press coverage of Vacation Simulator:

Nerdist: Kelly Knox shared picks of the best indie gems at E3, including Vacation Simulator and describing it as a “whimsical and irreverent VR experience”.

Shacknews: We were delighted that Shacknews followed up on their coverage of Vacation Simulator from GDC to interview the team (not once, but twice!) and share what’s new on Vacation Island.

Push Square: We’re just as excited to share the world of Vacation Simulator as Push Square is to go on holiday to visit it! Sammy Barker covered our presence at E3 and called Vacation Simulator “inventive, colourful, and funny.”

Thanks again to everyone at Sony for having us in the PSVR lineup, and to the whole team running the booth. Overall, it was an amazing E3 and we can’t wait for more people to experience RECREATION and RELAXATION!

Every day of E3 was a party! We could hardly bear the excitement!

We’ll be sharing even more about Vacation Simulator in the coming months. Until then, sea you later! 🌊

-Owls

Today, with hearts full of love, we are saying goodbye to CEOwl and Janitor Alex Schwartz and Studio Director Cy Wise as they take flight to pursue new opportunities outside of Owlchemy Labs. We are grateful for their contributions to the studio thus far, and look forward to seeing what they both do next.

To that end, we are announcing that Devin Reimer, current Chief Technology Owl, will transition to the role of Chief Executive Owl (CEOwl). Devin’s been with Owlchemy since the early days, tackling every challenge along the way from the most formidable technical undertakings to the impossible task of making a hoodie stylish. There’s truly no better person to take the helm as we steer toward the future of VR.

“It’s a very exciting time at Owlchemy Labs, and the virtual reality industry as a whole,” Devin adds. “It makes me incredibly happy to continue my work in this new role as CEOwl, and I’m committed to ensuring that the studio continues to push the boundaries in terms of innovation and experimentation with the games we create.”

As Devin transitions to his new role as CEOwl, we are also pleased to share that Andrew Eiche will be stepping up as Owlchemy Labs’ new Chief Technology Owl (CTOwl) and Cable Slinger, and Autumn Taylor the new Studio Director, Marketing, KnOWLedge.

Leaving the nest is never easy, but we are proud and excited for both Alex and Cy in their adventures to come pursuing the future. For all of their work on this journey up until now— farewOWL and thank you!

We at Owlchemy Labs will continue to build absurd and highly polished games that push the boundaries of what’s possible in virtual reality, and are more excited than ever to continue helping shape the future of this industry.

Onward to the future!

– Owls

Hello Humans!

We’re back from the yearly Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco! The Owls were out in force, sharing knowledge on talks, chatting VR on panels, and showing the first playable demo of Vacation Simulator!

DEMOS

We showcased Vacation Simulator in sunny style (despite the rain at GDC)!

This was the first-ever inside look at Vacation Simulator and we were really blown-away by the positive response. It’s always thrilling the first time you show a new game, but we were floored by just how excited people were to experience [VACATION]. Attendees had a blast taking selfies, scoring points in Net Ball, lounging on the beach, and spending a frankly ridiculous amount of time building the perfect sandcastle.

No shortage of joy in our booth: We couldn’t help but have fun demoing Vacation Simulator!

TALKS

Alex Schwartz (Chief Executive Owl and Janitor) and Devin Reimer (Chief Technology Owl) presented lessons learned from the development of ‘Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality”.

True to Owlchemy-fashion, we also presented a TON of talks this year: Carrie Witt (Art Director, Señor Artist, and Cat Whisperer) gave insight into the art direction behind Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality; Cy Wise (Studio Director, Owlmancer, Science) and Andrew Eiche (Developer, Producer, Alleged Certified Adult™) tackled accessibility design in VR; and our dynamic duo Alex Schwartz (CEOwl) and Devin Reimer (CTOwl) shared lessons learned from the development of Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality in their postmortem talk!

All of these talks will be available on the GDC vault in a couple weeks, so keep an eye on the Speaker page for links.

PRESS

Lastly, press have been quick to share their first impressions of Vacation Simulator!

Road to VR: Scott Hayden from Road to VR stopped by to see the game, and spent time with the Sandcastle Sandbox!

TechCrunch: We swooned when Lucas Matney from TechCrunch found our game “delightful”, not to mention calling us out as an argument to evolve the hardware landscape (OMG)!

Shacknews: The team at Shacknews stopped by to demo and grab an interview with CEOwl Alex Schwartz! They chatted about the evolution of jokes, VR drunkenness, and the future of the VR industry.

See the whole thing below:

All in all, it was a fantastic GDC! We met with fans and friends both new and old, snapped an absurd number of selfies, and even held impromptu juggling sessions!

Alex and Jesse Schell showing off some serious juggling skills.

We already miss everyone dearly, but the show must go on! Until next year, GDC!

-Owls

Hello Humans!

We’re thrilled to announce our latest VR game: Vacation Simulator!

As per the Owlchemy way, we never stop jobbing over here at the Labs! Since the launch of Job Simulator, we’ve been hard at work prototyping fun, concocting spatial interactions, and quantitatively analyzing jokes for our next original VR title.

After pondering the progression of life, the universe, and JOB, we came to the natural conclusion: First you JOB, then you VACATION. Experience RECREATION, optimal RELAXATION, and classic human pasttimes like SUNBURN. Vacation Island offers all this and more so that you can discover the lost art of TIME OFF.

Vacation Simulator will be launching on Vive, Oculus, and PlayStation VR! Keep an eye on VacationSimulatorGame.com and on our social media channels for more details in the coming months!

Kick back, relax, and get ready to book your vacation in 2018!

-Owls

Hello Humans!

You’ve worked the day shift, now it’s time to work into the night! Today, we’re launching a free content update to Job Simulator on all platforms. Now you can work the never-ending night shift with Job Simulator’s new Infinite Overtime mode– a free content update to the game! We’re also permanently dropping the price of Job Simulator to $19.99! Now, there’s exactly zero reasons not to experience the magic of JOB!

Clock in to Infinite Overtime and meet TempBot— JobBot’s far less motivated nighttime replacement— as TempBot guides you through endless, randomized tasks. Each job has been updated to allow for a countless stream of customers as you punch the clock late into the evening. Check it out below!

Look, a teaser!

We’re super excited about this one! We’ve been working in secret on this update for quite a while, creating randomized bot interactions, adding in new mini-meta games, and updating our vehicular drift vectors. Each of the jobs in Job Simulator has been fitted with an Infinite Overtime mode, which includes new tasks, promotions and, of course, easter eggs! Keep at the nightly grind to earn promotions and desk flair to declare your dedication to endless jobbing. Even a human like you could one day be promoted to ‘Managing Director of Interns’! Also, we added fidget spinners, because why not?

We couldn’t stop ourselves from adding new stuff.

Anyone who already has Job Simulator will automatically receive this new mode in the latest update. Once you’ve completed all tasks in a job, you can access this game mode by flipping the Infinite Overtime switch attached to the kiosk in the museum.

We’re incredibly happy to be able to share this update with you! Happy (infinite) JOBBING!

-Owls