John Carmach has left id Software to join Oculus VR. The company is known for it's popular Rift brand of VR headsets that has picked up a lot of steam over the past year.
A statement from the company confirmed that Carmack is now Oculus VR’s new chief technology officer, and reads, “John is one of the brightest minds of our generation – pioneer, visionary, and industry legend. There are very few people in the world that can contribute to the Oculus Rift and the future of virtual reality like John can.”
Oculus is opening a new studio in Dallas that Carmack will head up, and it is currently seeking new talent.
In a statement, id Software co-founder Carmack said, “I have fond memories of the development work that led to a lot of great things in modern gaming – the intensity of the first person experience, LAN and internet play, game mods, and so on. Duct taping a strap and hot gluing sensors onto Palmer’s early prototype Rift and writing the code to drive it ranks right up there.
“Now is a special time. I believe that VR will have a huge impact in the coming years, but everyone working today is a pioneer. The paradigms that everyone will take for granted in the future are being figured out today; probably by people reading this message.
“It’s certainly not there yet. There is a lot more work to do, and there are problems we don’t even know about that will need to be solved, but I am eager to work on them. It’s going to be awesome.”
