Oculus Rift News: John Carmack Stole VR Technology, Says ZeniMax
News surrounding Oculus Rift hasn’t been positive lately, aside from Mark Zuckerberg’s press conference yesterday citing the advantages of the VR headset and how Facebook can help it along. When it was announced that Facebook was buying the ‘Rift, there were waves of disappointment throughout the gaming community.
Images of virtual Farmville danced through our heads as we imagined a stream of advertisements we didn’t want and annoying privacy issues cropping up in the middle of using the device. It looked like the start of an annoying relationship.
Mark Zuckerberg told the world yesterday that nothing will change after Facebook buys the VR technology, and apparently ZeniMax wasn’t so pleased. It appears in this round of Oculus Rift news that on his way out, John Carmack had allegedly stolen the VR technology on which the ‘Rift was built.
John Carmack’s former employer claims he stole key Oculus Rift technology http://t.co/ofjCr6M5gn
— The Verge (@verge) May 1, 2014
ZeniMax is the company behind Id and Bethesda Software, and had developed the technology in question while John Carmack was employed with them. They are now suing Oculus VR, the creators of Oculus Rift, for stolen intellectual property.
They released the following statement as part of their legal announcement:
“ZeniMax’s intellectual property rights arise by reason of extensive VR research and development works done over a number of years by John Carmack while a ZeniMax employee, and others. ZeniMax provided necessary VR technology and other valuable assistance to Palmer Luckey and other Oculus employees in 2012 and 2013 to make the Oculus Rift a viable VR product, superior to other VR market offerings.”
“Oculus has used and exploited ZeniMax’s technology and intellectual property without authorization, compensation or credit to ZeniMax. ZeniMax and Oculus previously attempted to reach an agreement whereby ZeniMax would be compensated for its intellectual property through equity ownership in Oculus but were unable to reach a satisfactory resolution.”
“It’s unfortunate, but when there’s this type of transaction, people come out of the woodwork with ridiculous and absurd claims. We intend to vigorously defend Oculus and its investors to the fullest extent.”
Does this bit of Oculus Rift news mean that Facebook is in for more trouble than it’s worth? What do you think of John Carmack allegedly using stolen VR technology to create one of the most interesting developments in gaming technology?
[image via PC World]
