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John Carmack explains why he left id for Oculus

John Carmack explains how his failure to arrange a deal between ZeniMax and Oculus VR led to his decision to leave id Software in a new interview published by USA Today.

Alex Wawro, Contributor

February 4, 2014

1 Min Read
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"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."

- John Carmack explains why he left id for Oculus in an interview with USA Today. When John Carmack left id Software last November to join Oculus VR full-time, it seemed like a tacit admission that the game developer responsible for seminal titles like Doom and Quake was ready to set aside game development and focus his attention on solving problems in the burgeoning field of virtual reality. A new interview with Carmack published yesterday by USA Today reveals that Carmack tried -- and failed -- to convince id's parent company ZeniMax Media to establish a partnership with Oculus VR. "I would have been content probably staying there working with the people and technology that I know and the work we were doing," Carmack reportedly told a USA Today reporter. "But they [Oculus and id] 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." You can -- and should -- read the full article on the USA Today website.

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