Owlchemy on why it chose to avoid VR platform exclusivity

Job Simulator developer Owlchemy has said that It believes platform exclusivity should be avoided when possible.

Its game has been one of the early successes in the virtual reality sector, and CEO Alex Schwartz has said that part of this success has been down to the company’s efforts to ensure that its game can be found on as many VR platforms as possible.

"Our desire to be multi-platform simply started with the fact that we would have gone out of business with only one revenue stream," Schwartz told Games Industry.

"Every time you open up a VR – like, when you go to the store to test a system – Owlchemy’s content should be there, right? If Owlchemy wants to be associated with good VR, I can’t be only on one third of the market. That’s pretty much how we see it.”

Platform exclusivity has been one of the most contentious issues in early VR, with some developers who have released their titles exclusively for Oculus Rift, in particular, facing outspoken opposition from online communities who oppose what they see as Oculus’ efforts to close up the market.

However, Schwartz understands that what worked for Owlchemy might not work for everyone.

I’ve never had malice towards someone who took an exclusive deal," he added. "[VR’s] a tough place to be… We’re in a smaller market. If you have two choices, either going out of business or taking a platform exclusive deal, I see why people do it.

If you’re in a position, though, to not have to do it, and you can somehow make it work by not doing it, it seems like it’s only advantageous to the future of VR and to the future of your company to be platform agnostic like we are.”

"I haven’t seen anything right now as far as strategies of various VR companies that I would label, like, they’re intentionally trying to destroy this industry or f*** it up somehow. I wouldn’t say that that is the case at all. I would say that Sony is funding things, HTC is funding things, Oculus is funding things, and I think that’s great for the market in general.”