Video game rockstar John Carmack, who co-created "Doom" and co-founded id Software, has finally opened up, explaining in an interview why he opted to jump ship to Oculus VR.
Carmack signed to become the chief technological officer of Oculus that makes the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, in August. He initially had explored the possibility of developing next-generation gaming hardware while concurrently working on video games at id Software. However, that dream could not be fulfilled. Carmack was torn between two loves and he was forced to choose Oculus VR.
The 43-year old executive, who also co-created other legendary games such as "Quake" and "Wolfenstein 3D" resigned from id Software in November. Carmack tried to play matchmaker for id's mother company ZeniMax Media and Oculus VR but failed. While splitting his time between the two companies, Carmack was also trying to negotiate that "Doom 4" and possible future games he will work on be made playable on the Oculus Rift. It sounded as win-win situation but ZeniMax and Oculus VR apparently did not see eye to eye.
"But they couldn't come together on that which made me really sad. It was just unfortunate. When it became clear that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to do any work on VR while at id software, I decided to not renew my contract," Carmack told USA Today.
It was a bittersweet goodbye for Carmack but he has tuned his passion for a bright virtual reality future.
"We'd create majestic, wonderful things at the end that we have every right to be proud of," he said.
The game creator's revelation clarified why he left id Software. The company's press release then explained that Carmack "...has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio."
During his time at id, Carmack played a vital role in producing hit first-person three-dimensional games. The company also was a pioneer of releasing its games as shareware and pushed for the development of multiplayer gaming.
"I really do think VR is now one of the most exciting things that can be done in this whole sector of consumer electronic entertainment stuff. I've seen this when we transitioned from 2D games to 3D games and everybody has seen the mobile transition, right now in the last five years. After you have been around for a while, you can notice some of the trends. It really feels like VR has the possibility to be something really huge," said Carmack.
Carmack still works from Dallas where id Software is located, while Oculus VR is headquartered in California.
