My reaction when I read the news, lol.
I think he would be a good fit with Oculus Rift, he's been interested in the VR stuff for a while now. Excited to see what he can do with it.
EDIT: Some updates:
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John Carmack joins Oculus as chief technology officer
"The dream of VR has been simmering in the background for decades, but now, the people and technologies are finally aligning to allow it to reach the potential we imagined," commented Carmack.
"I'm extremely excited to make a mark in what I truly believe will be a transformative technology."
It was John Carmack who announced Oculus Rift to the world at E3 in 2012, having acquired one to work with his own passion project Doom 3: BFG Edition.
Carmack's presentation sent Oculus Rift and its creator Palmer Luckey on a rollercoaster ride of success that is still picking up speed. I caught up with Luckey recently to hear the story of how Oculus Rift, the glasses that made this 20-year-old a millionaire, came to be.
ORIGINAL STORY: John Carmack has left id Software to join Oculus VR, the company making Oculus Rift.
There he will take up his new role as chief technology officer.
UPDATE: John Carmack will apparently not be leaving id Software in order to take up his position as CTO at Oculus VR, an id rep has told Polygon.
"John has long been interested in the work at Oculus VR and wishes to spend time on that project," it said. "The technical leadership he provides for games in development at id Software is unaffected."
UPDATE #2: Bethesda has sent Eurogamer a statement about Carmack's position. It's a little confusing.
UPDATE #3: A little more clarification from Bethesda. "John will spend time working out of Oculus as part of his role with them, but he will also continue to work at id."
UPDATE: Bethesda has just sent us an email to clarify Carmacks position. A statement reads, 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.
I can hardly believe it. ID software will never be the same.
I don't think he's going to be working on anything like the way he was before, he's probably going to be sort of like a consultant for Bethesda. Oculus Rift team is saying Carmack if full time with them and I believe them because I have never heard of a part-time CTO lol.
The only thing I can think of at the mention of Carmack is the abomination of a game known as Rage.
He's a genius, but ID just needs to disband and give it up. They are a mere shadow of their former selves; this isn't the studio that raised eyebrows with Doom and Quake and was at the forefront of MP gameplay.
What i'm saying, stick a fork in ID software, it's dead, just work at Oculus full time. Screw ID software. They haven't made a good game in a decade...which is painful for me to say since ID created boundary pushing games such as Doom/Q1-Q3. They will never do that again, and I will never be interested in ID again.
Carmack has always been the engine guy, it was the other guys like Romero, Sweeney, and McGee that were responsible for the conceptualizing, gameplay, and level designs of games released during id's prime. He shouldn't be given credit for anything other than the tech behind those games, just as he doesn't deserve blame for shortcomings of games like Doom 3 and Rage.
You haven't played Rage recently, the patches have made it a decent game and it's fun for some LAN multiplayer.
Also, it is id software, not ID, iD or Id ... amazes me that gamers still haven't figured that out. Also, id was never about making games - it was purely about pushing technology.
Carmack has been involved in Occulus Rift since it started - he and the creator worked together for a bit before it even went to Kickstarter/E3. The talk he gave on VR last year at Quakecon was mind blowing/numbing.
I am amazed you care how people type on the internet. Who cares how you spell it, they are still irrelevant for gaming today.
They're so irrelevant for gaming, manufacturers still seek Carmack out for his opinion and technical insight, right?
They're "irrelevant" in your eyes because Bethesda won't let them license their tech engine. That is not id's fault - Rage was limited at release because of consoles. Our group at Quakecon was sitting behind some guys that work at id, and they were discussing what they wanted to do with certain products but it was being shot down because of politics within Zenimax and Bethesda.
The worst thing to happen at id was being purchased/acquired by Zenimax and Bethesda.
The engine for rage is terrible. Even gamebryo has better textures. Don't sugar coat it. Their games have sucked and their engine sucked. Look at the revised frostbite, cry engine 3, and ue4 engines and then look at rage. If you can't see the difference you must be blind. I don't care that he is asked about hardware, I am a gamer and until he makes a product worth something again, I don't care.
Also, it is id software, not ID, iD or Id ... amazes me that gamers still haven't figured that out. Also, id was never about making games - it was purely about pushing technology.