FarBridge, the Austin-based studio behind Quest strategy Homeworld: Vast Reaches (2024), has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help support the development of a flatsceen entry in the Job Simulator series.
The News
Called Job Simulator: Human Relations, the officially licensed flatscreen co-op physics game is set to be developed in collaboration with Owlchemy Labs, the IP holder and Google-owned studio behind the original.
The flatscreen sequel, which is slated to include four-player co-op, is based around workplace disasters which FarBridge says will “challenge, delight, or challenge and delight you and your co-workers.”
Job Simulator has been a perennial favorite, often considered one of the ‘must have’ VR games for beginners. To boot, it’s been a chart topper across nearly all VR headsets since its release a decade ago, including Quest, where it currently sits as the second best-selling Quest game of all time just below Meta’s block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber.
Notably, Job Simulator’s early success also spurred its sequel, Vacation Simulator (2019), and the very job-esque social VR game Dimensional Double Shift (2024), the latter of which FarBridge collaborated on as well.
This follows a growing trend of high-profile VR studios increasingly looking towards traditional flatscreen gaming to lend their IP continued life, including Polyarcs’s award-winning VR platformer Moss being adapted for PC monitor and console, and Vertigo Games’ popular zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine.
At the time of this writing, Job Simulator: Human Relations has managed to attract ~$12,000 of its $150,000 base funding goal, which must be reached before September 10th, 2026. You can learn more on the project’s Kickstarter here.
My Take
Job Simulator’s wacky and approachable sense of humor gives it a pretty broad target, as it easily appeals to first-time VR users, kids and adults alike. That’s an important ingredient, but if you were to cook up a ‘staying power recipe’, it would also need a heavy dose of luck, timing, constant support, and a competent studio to make sure it all happens.
Releasing on HTC Vive with full motion controller support in 2016, notably before Oculus Rift even had Touch controllers, Job Simulator essentially represented a master class in how to build immersive VR interaction. It’s no wonder why Google acquired Owlchemy Labs nearly a year after Job Simulator’s initial release.
And with Google’s backing, Owlchemy scaled up to meet new headsets that shipped with motion controllers, eventually bringing the game to nearly every VR headset to date, further cementing it as the game for first time VR buyers.
In short, Job Simulator generated a level of early momentum that none of its follow-ups have managed to match. And while there’s definitely a possibility the game’s patented quirk and infectious humor can make a splash on flatscreen, becoming the next Among Us, I don’t think it’s going to do that just based off the VR game’s name recognition alone.
