John Carmack Just Left id Software to Focus on Oculus VR
John Carmack will focus entirely on Oculus VR.
We can’t help but say woah! WHAT?!?
Polygon received an official statement from Bethesda announcing that id software co-founder and technical director John Carmack has handed in his resignation. According to the statement, Carmack will now focus all his attention on the role of chief technical officer at Oculus VR, which he assumed back in August.
"John Carmack, who has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio," reads a statement from Tim Willits, studio director at id Software. "John's work on id Tech 5 and the technology for the current development work at id is complete, and his departure will not affect any current projects.”
"We are fortunate to have a brilliant group of programmers at id who worked with John and will carry on id's tradition of making great games with cutting-edge technology. As colleagues of John for many years, we wish him well," Willits concludes.
Pete Hines, vice president of PR and marketing at Bethesda Softworks, added that Carmack 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," he added.
Carmack hasn’t said much on Twitter, only saying that he wanted to remain as a technical advisor for id Software, but it didn’t work out. The decision to leave entirely was probably for the best anyway, he said, as the divided focus was challenging. "If they don't want me to talk on stage at Quakecon next year, we'll just have to fill up the lobby like the old days," he tweeted.
Carmack follows president and former CEO Todd Hollenshead who left id Software this summer after a 17 year tenure. Id Software, made famous by the shooters Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake, was founded by Carmack in 1991 along with John Romero, Tom Hall and Adrian Carmack. The studio’s latest game is DOOM 3 BFG Edition, which scored a 59 for the PC and a 67 for the console edition on Metacritic.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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magicandy Reply12008887 said:Well there goes my hope for an Elder Scrolls game with good tech... meh
Well they did just have id make them a new engine so ES will probably be using this: http://gaoom.com/2013/11/14/zenimax-parent-company-bethesda-filed-trademark-application-void-engine-powered-id-tech/ -
Platinum Era For all the devs and higher ups leaving their respective studios to focus on the Oculus, the damn thing better be amazing. And i mean AMAZING.Reply -
Platinum Era For all the devs and higher ups leaving their respective studios to focus on the Oculus, the damn thing better be amazing. And i mean AMAZING.Reply -
jimmysmitty Reply12008887 said:Well there goes my hope for an Elder Scrolls game with good tech... meh
I don't know. RAGE was pretty bad at launch because the game required very specific OGL drivers and neither AMD nor NVidia had them. Was a fun work around though.
I respect John Carmack but in recent years he seems to have lost interest in PC gaming. -
sicom I thought this happened months ago... I remember something about him moving into the Oculus Rift building full time.Reply -
coolitic WAIT WHAT. The funny thing is lots of people love stuff by id software but no1 cares about oculus rift at all.Reply -
coolitic WAIT WHAT. The funny thing is lots of people love stuff by id software but no1 cares about oculus rift at all.Reply