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Job Simulator

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Job Simulator
Information
VR/AR VR
Developer Owlchemy Labs
Publisher Owlchemy Labs
Platform SteamVR, Oculus Rift (Platform), PlayStation VR, Meta Quest, PlayStation VR2, Pico, Apple Vision Pro, Android XR
Device HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index, Oculus Quest, PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2, Pico 4, Apple Vision Pro, Samsung Galaxy XR
Operating System Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, VisionOS, Android XR
Type Full Game
Genre Simulation, VR, Funny, First-Person, Physics, Memes, Comedy, Illuminati, Atmospheric
Input Device Tracked motion controllers, PlayStation Move, Hand tracking (Meta Quest, Apple Vision Pro)
Play Area Room-Scale
Game Mode Single Player
Language English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish (Latin America)
Review Very Positive (Steam, September 2026)
Release Date April 5, 2016 (HTC Vive); October 13, 2016 (PlayStation VR); December 2016 (Oculus Rift with Touch); May 21, 2019 (Oculus Quest); February 22, 2023 (PlayStation VR2); July 27, 2023 (Pico 4); May 28, 2024 (Apple Vision Pro); October 2025 (Samsung Galaxy XR)
Price $19.99 (launched at $39.99 on Steam in April 2016)
App Store Steam, Meta Horizon Store, PlayStation Store, PICO Store, visionOS App Store, Google Play
Website http://jobsimulatorgame.com
Infobox Updated 09/29/2026
See also: VR Apps and VR Games

Job Simulator (full title Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives) is a virtual reality comedy simulation game developed and published by Owlchemy Labs. It is set in the year 2050, in a world where robots have replaced all human jobs, and the player visits a robot-run museum that recreates four "not-so historically accurate" workplaces: a gourmet chef's kitchen, an office cubicle, a convenience store and an auto repair shop.[1][2][3] The game is played with two tracked motion controllers (and, on some headsets, with hand tracking) and is built around picking up, stacking, throwing and smashing physics objects.[3]

Job Simulator launched on 5 April 2016 as a launch title for the HTC Vive and was later a launch title for PlayStation VR, Oculus Touch and the Oculus Quest.[4][5] It won Best VR/AR Game at the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards.[6] Owlchemy Labs announced in January 2020 that the game had sold more than one million units, and in January 2026 that it had passed six million installs.[7][8]

Job Simulator is a VR App.

Reviewed 29 September 2026. Checked release dates, platforms, prices, sales and install milestones, development history, review scores, awards and the Human Relations spin-off against the cited Owlchemy, Steam, PlayStation, press and aggregator pages. About review dates.

Description

A tongue-in-cheek virtual reality experience for HTC Vive. In a world where robots have replaced all human jobs, step into the "Job Simulator" to learn what it was like 'to job'.

Key Features!

  • Throw a stapler at your boss!
  • Learn to 'job' in four not-so historically accurate representations of work life before society was automated by robots!
  • Use your hands to stack, manipulate, throw, and smash physics objects in an inexplicably satisfying way!
  • Aggressively chug coffee and eat questionable food from the trash!
  • Use the confluence of decades of VR research to accurately track your every movement to sub-millimeter precision so that you eat VR donuts, of course!
  • Able to juggle tomatoes in real life? Do it in VR! Unable to juggle? There's no cleanup required in VR!
  • Gain valuable life experience by firing new employees, serving slushy treats, brewing English tea, and ripping apart car engines!
  • Have a comfortable VR experience where vomiting is solely a gameplay mechanic, not a side-effect!



A VR-Only game!

Gameplay

The four jobs are Gourmet Chef, Office Worker, Convenience Store Clerk and Automotive Mechanic.[2] Each job is a series of tasks, and a task is complete when its instruction board registers success; there is no time pressure and no fail state. In PC Gamer's review, each job took about 30 minutes to finish.[1] Objects in the rooms can be stacked, thrown, smashed and in some cases eaten or drunk, such as coffee and food from the trash.[3] The PlayStation Blog announcement for the PlayStation VR version listed actions such as typing on a binary keyboard, tossing tires, flinging fruit and throwing a stapler at the boss.[9]

On Steam the game is listed as room-scale with a minimum play space of 2 m by 1.5 m, and it requires tracked controllers.[3] The PlayStation VR version requires two PlayStation Move controllers.[9] When the game was brought to PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift with Touch, the room layouts were changed slightly so that players could reach everything with little room-scale movement.[10] A May 2016 update added a "Shorter Human Mode" option, reached through a small door under the job kiosk, so that shorter players can reach all areas.[11]

Infinite Overtime

Infinite Overtime, a free content update for all platforms, was released on 23 October 2017. After completing every task in a job, the player can flip a switch on the museum kiosk to work an endless night shift of randomized tasks, guided by TempBot, described as JobBot's "far less motivated nighttime replacement". The mode adds promotions and desk decorations earned through continued play.[12][13]

Streaming and spectator features

The PC version includes a Spectator Mode for viewers, mixed reality filming support and an in-game display of Twitch chat, which an April 2016 update added so that streamers could read and react to viewers without leaving VR.[2][14] Subtitles in English, German, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese and "Binary" were added in April 2020.[15]

Development

In October 2014 Valve invited Owlchemy Labs and developers from several other companies to a secret meeting where it revealed that it was building virtual reality hardware, later known as the HTC Vive, and asked the teams to create experiences for the headset in time for the Game Developers Conference in March 2015. The core Owlchemy team spent the first week in a basement outside Winnipeg, Canada, and finished the demo remotely. The GDC 2015 demo was set in a cartoon kitchen.[16] In a March 2015 interview, Owlchemy co-founder Alex Schwartz said the studio had settled on a series of minigames tied together by a theme, an idea that came up in discussion of a "WarioWare of VR"; the setting was a future in which robots have taken most jobs and people relive old professions through simulations. The first demo was a chef job, and a bartender simulator was among the jobs planned at the time.[17]

The game is built in Unity; an April 2016 patch note mentioned a planned upgrade to Unity 5.4.[14][18] Much of the work went into object interaction. UploadVR reported in March 2016 that the liquid simulation behind the game's cup of coffee took about 850 hours, including roughly 500 hours from Owlchemy's Devin Reimer alone; liquids pour between containers, cool to room temperature and turn lighter when sugar or creamer is added.[19] When the studio cut the Steam price in April 2016, it said the team had 15 people and had spent more than a year and a half on the project.[20] In June 2016 Owlchemy released a performance update developed with Unity and Valve, because the game was CPU-bound and mid-range Intel Core i5 processors struggled with its physics.[18]

Google acquired Owlchemy Labs in May 2017. TechCrunch reported at the time that, according to the company, Job Simulator had been the best-selling game on the PlayStation VR store and had earned more than $3 million in revenue.[21]

Release

Job Simulator was released on Steam on 5 April 2016, the launch day of the HTC Vive, and was one of the games bundled free with the headset.[3][22] In August 2016 HTC replaced Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption in the bundle with The Gallery - Episode 1: Call of the Starseed and Zombie Training Simulator; Schwartz said the change was good for the studio because it wanted "to establish a price point for our content and start getting actual sales".[22] The game has since been released on most major VR platforms.

Platform Release date Notes
HTC Vive (SteamVR) 5 April 2016 Headset launch title[3][4]
PlayStation VR (PlayStation 4) 13 October 2016 Headset launch title; requires two PlayStation Move controllers[9]
Oculus Rift with Oculus Touch December 2016 Touch launch title[4]
Oculus Quest 21 May 2019 Headset launch title, $19.99[5]
PlayStation VR2 (PlayStation 5) 22 February 2023 Headset launch title; free upgrade for PlayStation VR owners[23]
Pico 4 27 July 2023 Global and China PICO stores, $19.99[24]
Apple Vision Pro (VisionOS) 28 May 2024 Hand tracking, $19.99[25]
Samsung Galaxy XR (Android XR) October 2025 Headset launch title, $19.99[26][27]

Pricing

The game launched on Steam at $39.99. On 19 April 2016 Owlchemy lowered the price to $29.99 and let earlier buyers request a refund and rebuy at the new price, even with more than two hours of playtime.[20] With the Infinite Overtime update in October 2017 the price was permanently lowered to $20.[13] Owlchemy announced a price of $19.99 for the Oculus Quest (2019), PlayStation VR2 (2023), Pico 4 (2023), Apple Vision Pro (2024) and Galaxy XR (2025) releases, and the Steam version was listed at $19.99 in the US store in September 2026.[5][23][24][25][27][3]

Later updates

Official Oculus Touch support arrived on Steam in December 2016, with forward-facing layouts for two-camera setups and 360-degree room-scale layouts for three or more cameras. The same update added Steam achievements and trading cards.[28] Valve Index controller support left beta in July 2019, in an update that also improved head and hand impact physics and made it easier to pick items up off the floor.[29]

The PlayStation VR2 version renders at 4K and 90 frames per second and adds controller and headset haptics, shorter load times and Sony's audio spatializer.[23] On 28 May 2024 Owlchemy added hand tracking to Job Simulator on Meta Quest as a free update, the first time the game supported it, at the same time as the Apple Vision Pro release.[25][30] According to Road to VR, the game joined Meta's Horizon+ subscription catalog in March 2025.[31]

Sales

Date announced Milestone Notes
6 January 2017 More than $3 million in sales Across Vive, Oculus Touch and PlayStation VR; Owlchemy also cited 250 million YouTube views of the game[32]
9 January 2020 More than 1 million units sold Owlchemy called it only the second "made for VR" title to reach that figure[7][33]
22 January 2026 More than 6 million installs Announced for the game's tenth anniversary[8]

According to Owlchemy, Job Simulator was the best-selling PlayStation VR game in North America in 2016, and by January 2020 it had been among the top 10 PlayStation VR games every month since its October 2016 release on the platform and the number one game three years in a row.[32][7] Road to VR noted that installs probably do not directly reflect units sold, and that the figure may include copies from the limited-time 2016 HTC Vive bundle, Meta's Horizon+ subscription and the SpringboardVR arcade subscription service, which in 2024 called Job Simulator its top-performing game.[31]

Reception

Aggregator or publication Score
Metacritic (PlayStation 4) 71/100 (21 critic reviews)[34]
Metacritic (PC) 68/100 (6 critic reviews)[34]
OpenCritic 75 top critic average; 53% of critics recommend[35]
PC Gamer 74/100[1]

In its review, PC Gamer called the game "genuinely amusing and one of the slickest VR experiences to date" and good for demonstrating a new headset, but said it had "little long-term value beyond that".[1] UploadVR's David Jagneaux wrote that it was "one of the best ways to introduce someone to VR for the very first time" and praised its humor, but wished for "one or two more jobs" and noted that tracking on PlayStation VR, with its single front-facing camera, was "always a bit bothersome".[10] On Steam, user reviews were rated "Very Positive" in September 2026, with 91% of 3,078 reviews positive.[3]

Awards

Year Award Category Result
2016 The Game Awards 2016 Best VR Game Nominated[36]
2016 UploadVR 2016 Game of the Year Best VR Game of the Year, Best Vive Game, Best PS VR Game, Most Innovative VR Game Nominated[37]
2017 17th Game Developers Choice Awards Best VR/AR Game Won[6]

At the UploadVR awards, Owlchemy Labs won Breakout VR Game Studio, with Job Simulator listed among its titles.[37] Rez Infinite won Best VR Game at The Game Awards 2016, the first year of the category; the other nominees were Batman: Arkham VR, EVE: Valkyrie and Thumper.[36][38]

Related games

Owlchemy's later game Vacation Simulator was released on Steam on 9 April 2019 and is promoted as coming "from the creators of 'Job Simulator'".[39] At the Galaxy XR launch in October 2025 the studio also released Inside[JOB], a free mixed reality experience exclusive to Android XR that features Job Simulator's JobBot.[27] On 11 August 2026 FarBridge, a studio that had worked with Owlchemy on Dimensional Double Shift, launched a Kickstarter for Job Simulator: Human Relations, an officially licensed co-op game for up to four players on PC, played on a flat screen rather than in a headset, with a $150,000 goal.[40] GameGrin reported later that month that the campaign had been cancelled, with backers refunded, after FarBridge secured investment from Enduring Games, and that the game was planned for release on Steam in 2028.[41]

Features

System Requirements

Windows

Minimum

  • OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 or later, Windows 10
  • Processor: CPU: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or better
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 970, AMD Radeon R9 290 equivalent or better
  • Storage: 1 GB available space

The Steam store notes that the Steam client itself has required Windows 10 or later since 1 January 2024.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tim Clark (2016-04-09). "Job Simulator review". PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/job-simulator-2/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Job Simulator: the 2050 Archives". Owlchemy Labs. https://jobsimulatorgame.com/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 "Job Simulator on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/448280/Job_Simulator/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Scott Hayden (2017-01-06). "'Job Simulator' Surpasses $3 Million in Sales, Becoming "most popular VR title to date"". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/job-simulator-surpasses-3-million-sales-becoming-popular-vr-title-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Job Simulator Launches on Oculus Quest + Rift S Release!". Owlchemy Labs. 2019-05-21. https://owlchemylabs.com/blog/job-simulator-launches-on-oculus-quest-rift-s-release. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Archive - 17th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards". Game Developers Choice Awards. https://gamechoiceawards.com/archive-gdca-2017/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Job Simulator Surpasses 1 Million Units Sold -- Goes Platinum". PRWeb. Owlchemy Labs. 2020-01-09. https://www.prweb.com/releases/job-simulator-surpasses-1-million-units-sold-goes-platinum-871932061.html. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Owlchemy Labs' Job Simulator Turns 10 and Surpasses 6 Million Installs as Dimensional Double Shift Hits 1 Million Players". Games Press. Owlchemy Labs. 2026-01-22. https://www.gamespress.com/Owlchemy-Labs-Job-Simulator-Turns-10-and-Surpasses-6-Million-Installs-. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Alex Schwartz (2016-10-06). "Prepare to Job with Job Simulator, Out October 13 on PS VR". PlayStation.Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. https://blog.playstation.com/2016/10/06/prepare-to-job-with-job-simulator-out-october-13-on-ps-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 David Jagneaux (2016-12-16). "Job Simulator Review - Making the Mundane Magical". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/job-simulator-review-making-the-mundane-magical/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  11. ↑ "Job Simulator Update 5/3 - Shorter Human Mode and more fixes!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2016-05-03. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375679. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  12. ↑ "Work the endless night shift with Infinite Overtime - new free update!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2017-10-23. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375362. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Scott Hayden (2017-10-23). "'Job Simulator' Gets 'Infinite Job Overtime' Update & Permanent Price of $20". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/job-simulator-gets-infinite-job-overtime-update-permanent-price-20/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Job Simulator Update 4/21 - Hats, Twitch, and Perf!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2016-04-21. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375784. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  15. ↑ "Subtitle Update + Additional Language Support!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2020-04-28. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/2201641355699061908. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  16. ↑ Jessica Conditt (2015-03-10). "How Valve's secret meeting got devs on board with Steam VR". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2015-03-10-valve-htc-vr-owlchemy-indie-games.html. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  17. ↑ Kent Bye (2015-03-11). "#103: Alex Schwartz on developing Job Simulator for SteamVR and HTC Vive". Voices of VR Podcast. https://voicesofvr.com/103-alex-schwartz-on-developing-job-simulator-for-steamvr-htc-vive/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Huge Performance Improvements! Try It Out!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2016-06-29. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375571. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  19. ↑ Ian Hamilton (2016-03-29). "Why A Cup Of Coffee In 'Job Simulator' Took 850 Hours To Make". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/job-simulator-coffee/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Job Simulator pricing". Steam Community. Owlchemy Labs. 2016-04-19. https://steamcommunity.com/games/448280/announcements/detail/887582885482635746. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  21. ↑ Lucas Matney (2017-05-10). "Google acquires Owlchemy Labs VR game studio". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/10/google-acquires-owlchemy-labs-vr-game-studio. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Ian Hamilton (2016-08-12). "HTC Swaps Out 'Fantastic Contraption' and 'Job Simulator' From Vive Bundle". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/htc-new-vive-bundle/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 "Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator are Coming to PlayStation VR2 as Launch Day Titles". Owlchemy Labs. 2023-01-19. https://owlchemylabs.com/blog/job-simulator-and-vacations-simulator-are-coming-to-playstation-vr2-as-launch-day-titles. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Owlchemy Labs Launches Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator on Pico 4 VR Headset". TriplePoint Newsroom. Owlchemy Labs. 2023-07-27. https://pressreleases.triplepointpr.com/2023/07/27/owlchemy-labs-launches-job-simulator-and-vacation-simulator-on-pico-4-vr-headset/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 "Owlchemy Labs Launches Two Best-Selling Titles, Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator, On Apple Vision Pro". Owlchemy Labs. 2024-05-28. https://owlchemylabs.com/blog/owlchemy-labs-launches-two-best-selling-titles-job-simulator-and-vacation-simulator-on-apple-vision-pro. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  26. ↑ "Owlchemy Labs Brings Its Signature Chaos to Samsung's Galaxy XR Launch, With a New Twist". Owlchemy Labs. 2025-10-22. https://owlchemylabs.com/blog/owlchemy-labs-games-samsung-galaxy-xr-inside-job. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 "Owlchemy Labs Debuts Inside[JOB, Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator Arrive as Launch Titles for Galaxy XR"]. TriplePoint Newsroom. Owlchemy Labs. https://pressreleases.triplepointpr.com/2025/10/22/owlchemy-labs-debuts-insidejob-job-simulator-and-vacation-simulator-arrive-as-launch-titles-for-galaxy-xr/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  28. ↑ "Oculus Touch Support, Steam Achievements, Trading Cards!". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2016-12-23. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375457. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  29. ↑ "Job Simulator Update 7/30 - Valve Index Update". Steam. Owlchemy Labs. 2019-07-30. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/448280/view/4039122238473375180. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  30. ↑ Henry Stockdale (2024-05-28). "Job Simulator Now Supports Hand Tracking On Quest". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/job-simulator-quest-hand-tracking-support/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Scott Hayden (2026-01-26). "Perennial VR Classic 'Job Simulator' Hits 6 Million Installs, Averaging 600,000 Units Annually". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/job-simulator-6-million-downloads-2026/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "$3 Million in Sales and 250 Million Views for Job Simulator!". Owlchemy Labs. 2017-01-06. https://owlchemylabs.com/blog/job-simulator-sales-milestone. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  33. ↑ Chris Kerr (2020-01-10). "Comical career sim Job Simulator has crossed 1 million sales". Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/comical-career-sim-i-job-simulator-i-has-crossed-1-million-sales. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Job Simulator". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/job-simulator/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  35. ↑ "Job Simulator (VR) Reviews". OpenCritic. https://opencritic.com/game/2557/job-simulator-vr-. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Eddie Makuch (2016-11-16). "All the 2016 Game Awards Nominees". GameSpot. https://web.archive.org/web/2016/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/all-the-2016-game-awards-nominees/1100-6445481/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 David Jagneaux (2016-12-30). "UploadVR's 2016 Game of the Year Winners". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/uploadvr-2016-game-year-winners/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  38. ↑ Joe Durbin (2016-12-01). "'Rez Infinite' and 'Pokemon Go' Take Home VR/AR's First Ever Game Awards". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/first-ever-game-awards-rez-pokemon/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  39. ↑ "Vacation Simulator on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/726830/Vacation_Simulator/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  40. ↑ "Job Simulator: Human Relations Clocks In on Kickstarter, Building Four-Player Office Chaos for PC". TriplePoint Newsroom. FarBridge. 2026-08-11. https://pressreleases.triplepointpr.com/2026/08/11/job-simulator-human-relations-clocks-in-on-kickstarter-building-four-player-office-chaos-for-pc/. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
  41. ↑ Martin Heath (2026-08-26). "Job Simulator: Human Relations Kickstarter Comes to Early Close as Investor Found!". GameGrin. https://www.gamegrin.com/news/job-simulator-human-relations-kickstarter-comes-to-early-close-as-investor-found. Retrieved 2026-09-29.
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