Husqvarna has launched the first Virtual Reality (VR) chainsaw game for chainsaw fans all around the world, Husqvarna Limberjack. Launching today via Valve’s platform Steam, the game will be available worldwide for anyone that wants to put their limbing skills to the test, and compete for the new world championship title.

Committed to exploring new possibilities that can help enhance skills and safety within tree care, Husqvarna, a world leader in professional chainsaws now enters the virtual world with an online VR limbing game. With this game, Husqvarna hopes to gather understandings on how new technology can play a future role in educating and training users on proper product use as well as produce interest for logging.

“VR limbing combines two extremes, one of the oldest professions in the world together with the newest technology available,” says Lars Strandell, multiple medallist from the bi-annual World Logging Championship. “Husqvarna Limberjack is fun and educational and just like limbing in the real world, technique, precision and speed is crucial for productivity and a good result.”

The Husqvarna VR experience brings the player to a stunning mountainside with a lake where the player has to use a Husqvarna 359 chainsaw to remove 24 branches from a 2.7 metre long log. The player needs to pick up the chainsaw and limb the branches with precision, but also with speed, just like a professional logger. If any branches are not removed properly, the player will need to re-limb those branches before being able to continue, losing time.

The exhilarating game includes a local as well as a global high score list, giving the player the opportunity to compete in groups at home, or online against other VR limberjacks around the world.

At the end of each month, Husqvarna will announce the best Limberjack player in the world for the month, and in August 2017, the twelve best Limberjack players will be invited to the world championships final in Sweden.

Limbing is a tough and time consuming part of professional logging that requires good technique. It refers to the process of removing branches from a fallen tree before the log is transported away.

Husqvarna Limberjack is inspired by one of the five disciplines from the World Logging Championship, a bi-annual competition that gathers the best 150 loggers from around the world. The current world record in real limbing is less than nine seconds.

The game is optimised for HTC Vive and can be downloaded for free on Steam. It is also available via: https://www.limberjackvr.com.