How Owlchemy Labs Cut CPI by 95% on Meta Quest

Owlchemy Labs⁠, the studio behind Job Simulator⁠, Vacation Simulator⁠, Cosmonious High⁠, and Dimensional Double Shift⁠ went from running inefficient traffic campaigns with $50+ CPI to a lean acquisition engine averaging <$4 CPI. Their most recent optimization, new creatives paired with a 2% Lookalike audience, cut CPI by 20% in a single month. The key: app promotion campaigns, verified Meta Quest owner targeting, and authentic unscripted gameplay as creative.

Owlchemy Labs is a household name in VR. Their colorful, physics-based games helped define the platform's early experience. Job Simulator remains a top seller on Quest. But strong organic recognition doesn't eliminate the need for paid media.

"Organic discovery and word-of-mouth have always been a major strength for Owlchemy, but they naturally reach people who are already connected to the VR ecosystem," said Andrew Liu, Performance Marketing Lead at the studio. "Meta ads give us the ability to proactively reach new audiences, support key business moments like launches and DLC releases, and scale awareness in a more predictable way."

The studio started running ads in 2019, but the early approach relied on traffic campaigns driving users to a landing page that linked to the Quest Store. Click-throughs tanked, cost per click climbed, and CPI sat above $50, sometimes reaching $80+.

Owlchemy's turnaround came from three structural changes that compounded together.

The single biggest shift: moving from traffic campaigns (driving clicks to a website) to app promotion campaigns optimized for installs.

"Early on, we were primarily running traffic campaigns, which helped drive awareness but weren't optimized for the outcomes we cared about most," Liu said. "As we worked more closely with our Meta reps, we shifted to app promotion campaigns optimized for app installs. That allowed us to not only optimize toward installs, but also specifically target Meta Quest owners, making our audience targeting much more precise and ensuring our ad spend was focused on people who could actually play our games."

The ability to target verified headset owners changed everything. Every dollar now goes to someone who can actually play the game.

"If there wasn't a Meta Quest owners audience or verified audience, we'd be spending our money blindly and probably not seeing the results we're seeing now," Liu said. "Meta Quest owner targeting has allowed us to be far more intentional with our acquisition strategy, helping us focus on the audience that is most likely to discover, engage with, and enjoy our games."

With a portfolio of beloved titles, Owlchemy built audiences from purchasers across their catalog to promote other games. Someone who bought Job Simulator is a natural fit for Dimensional Double Shift, the studio's new free-to-play multiplayer title.

"We create audiences from purchasers across our catalog and use those to promote other Owlchemy titles, since there's often strong overlap in player interest," Liu explained. "We also build Lookalike audiences from those purchasers to find new players who share similar characteristics."

Purchaser-based and app installer Lookalikes at 1 to 2% similarity performed strongest. Most recently, a 2% Lookalike audience of DDS installers combined with new creatives cut CPI by 20% in a single month (from $4.46 in April to $3.56 in May).

Owlchemy's portfolio spans premium paid titles and a free-to-play game, requiring distinct approaches:

Dimensional Double Shift (free-to-play): Owlchemy's newest title expands their signature formula into multiplayer. Up to four players team up to operate an interdimensional Gas N' Grill, cooking, repairing vehicles, and embracing playful chaos via controller-free hand tracking. The goal is player growth and engagement. "That allows us to focus more on scale, audience growth, and long-term player value rather than just an upfront transaction," Liu said. App install optimization has been the most effective.

Legacy premium titles (Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator, Cosmonious High): "We're focused on driving efficient conversions and supporting key moments like sales periods," Liu said. They optimize for Purchases, concentrating spend around Spring Sale, Summer Sale, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and the holidays.

"Having an established catalog also gave us a head start," Liu said. "We already understood what audiences and creative themes resonated with Owlchemy players, which helped us test, learn, and optimize much faster than if we were launching a completely new IP."

Owlchemy's creative philosophy is simple: show the game being fun. Their studio motto, "VR for everyone, no exceptions," shapes every ad.

Video-first, always. "Video-first creative with light, humorous messaging has worked best for us," Liu said. "We focus on authentic gameplay footage that quickly showcases fun, funny, and memorable moments because VR is something players really need to see to understand."

Produced but unscripted. The team records gameplay with no script and captures the natural physics-based chaos. "Sometimes we're carefully controlling the experience, and sometimes we're intentionally not controlling the chaos because those unexpected moments are often what resonate most with players."

Universal appeal, not segmented messaging. "We focus on the universal elements that make our games fun: humor, creativity, accessibility, and player interaction. The goal is to create ads that feel welcoming to anyone interested in VR, regardless of their age or experience level."

"From the makers of Job Simulator" as social proof. "Job Simulator is such a well-known title in VR that it immediately creates familiarity and trust with players. We've seen it perform particularly well across our portfolio because it helps connect new games to an experience players already know and enjoy."

"Each campaign gave us new learnings that we could apply to the next, helping us continuously improve our creative and audience strategy."

Liu's recommendations for studios considering paid acquisition:

"If you already have a successful catalog, paid advertising can amplify the awareness and goodwill you've already built. The opportunity isn't choosing between organic and paid growth, it's finding ways to make them work together. That's where we've seen some of our strongest results."

"The biggest mistake is treating paid acquisition as a one-time effort instead of an ongoing process of testing and learning. Some developers launch a campaign, don't see immediate results, and give up too quickly. The studios that tend to succeed are the ones that continuously test creative, messaging, and audiences, then let the data guide their decisions."

For new releases, invest in awareness campaigns to build an audience, then conversion campaigns to drive installs or purchases. For catalog titles, start with retargeting to rebuild audience pools, then move into conversion.

"Some of our best learnings have come from ideas that weren't obvious on paper. Test new creative, test new messaging, test new audiences like a 3% Lookalike audience. Not every experiment is going to work, and that's okay. Building games and growing an audience takes time, but if you stay curious, keep learning, and continue iterating, those small improvements can compound into big results over time."

Ready to run ads for your Quest app? These resources will walk you through setup, launch, and optimization:

Owlchemy Labs is the VR studio behind Job Simulator⁠, Vacation Simulator⁠, Cosmonious High⁠, and Dimensional Double Shift⁠. A wholly owned subsidiary of Google, they are known for their colorful, physics-based, humor-driven VR experiences designed around the philosophy of "VR for everyone, no exceptions." Their games are available on the Store on Meta Quest and feature controller-free hand tracking with highly interactive environments.