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UPDATE: A Bethesda representative has told VideoGamer.com that the “technical leadership [Carmack] provides for games in development at id Software is unaffected”.
In a statement provided to VideoGamer.com this afternoon, Bethesda said:
“John has long been interested in the work at Oculus VR and wishes to spend time on that project. The technical leadership he provides for games in development at id Software is unaffected.”
id has also confirmed that Carmack will remain at the studio, tweeting: “Happy to say @id_aa_carmack is not leaving id & will continue to provide leadership for our games in development.”
ORIGINAL STORY: John Carmack has joined VR firm Oculus as Chief Technology Officer.
Though Bethesda has yet to formally confirm whether Carmack has left id Software, Oculus states that he “will be working from the new Oculus Dallas office,” suggesting that he may have exited the developer.
“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,” said Carmack on his appointment.
“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!”
Carmack has served at id Software for over 22 years, after co-founding the company in 1991. He went on to develop Doom, Quake and RAGE.
He’s also been a key supporter of Oculus Rift, having pledged to develop a Rift-supported version of DOOM 3: BFG Edition as part of the platform’s Kickstarter campaign.
Source: Engadget
