John Carmack pushed for Oculus Rift ports of id games

John Carmack was once doing double duty at id Software and Oculus. However, he eventually left the house of Doom to focus exclusively on the VR helmet. In a new interview, Carmack says he would have stayed with id had they been more supportive of his VR ambitions.

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John Carmack was once doing double duty at id Software and Oculus. However, he eventually left the house of Doom to focus exclusively on the VR helmet. In a new interview, Carmack says he would have stayed with id had they been more supportive of his VR ambitions.

"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," he said, speaking of a failed attempt to have Oculus and Zenimax agree on bringing id's games to the headset.

According to USA Today, Carmack was trying to make the two companies agree on having id's games ported for the headset. The first game would have been the upcoming Wolfenstein: The New Order. Doom 4 would have also been part of the deal. "It seemed like a sensible plan for me," Carmack said.

"I would have been content probably staying there working with the people and technology that I know and the work we were doing... but they couldn't come together on that which made me really sad. It was just unfortunate."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 5, 2014 5:00 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, John Carmack pushed for Oculus Rift ports of id games.

    John Carmack was once doing double duty at id Software and Oculus. However, he eventually left the house of Doom to focus exclusively on the VR helmet. In a new interview, Carmack says he would have stayed with id had they been more supportive of his VR ambitions.

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      February 5, 2014 5:06 PM

      I think this shift is a good thing.. Carmack has been amazing in the engine space but these days it seems like he'd be more excited about new technologies.

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        February 6, 2014 1:34 AM

        There were the reports of Oculus doing in-house development, which would be totally awesome with Carmack there. It also makes sense, you don't develop API's and libraries in a void, having an internal development team would mean that Oculus could provide better SDK's.

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      February 5, 2014 6:10 PM

      Glad he got out of there. Good things are coming.

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      February 5, 2014 9:56 PM

      I'm glad he moved on -- I can't wait to see what a mind like his does when unleashed on something bleeding-edge like this.

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      February 6, 2014 1:41 AM

      I can't help but think this was the right move for Carmack. Ever since Bethesda bought id, it's not that he seemed unhappy as such, it's just that he was obliged to give up on projects at id that he thought had decent traction (like the mobile space) in favour of massive AAA undertakings that turned out only to be mediocre (Rage).

      The QuakeCon keynote where he spent 90 minutes evangelizing VR clearly showed where his modern passions lie: experimentation, innovation. The gaming world is a more exciting place with Carmack at Oculus.

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      February 6, 2014 2:01 AM

      [deleted]

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      February 6, 2014 3:41 AM

      Sorry it it's a bit off topic, but if that's not a rape face I don't know what is.

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      February 6, 2014 4:40 AM

      There seems to be a rift between carmack and Bethesda.

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      February 6, 2014 5:18 AM

      Its sad to see iD slipping away, I wonder how long they'll be around.

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      February 6, 2014 7:57 AM

      Carmack likes tech toys and this is an opportunity for him to play around with something new.
      Miss or hit doesn't matter, the man has a reputation which means he can land a job anywhere in the industry and money wise he has plenty.
      So why not play with some new cool toys?
      Remember this is the same guy that didn't quite get that you needed a light on top of your shotgun in Doom 3 until it was patched in by the fans.

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        February 6, 2014 8:28 AM

        Said the guy that still doesn't get why it's lame to use it!

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          February 6, 2014 9:28 AM

          It was pretty popular mod and it the mechanic of having to switch between gun and flashlight was absurd and archaic.
          But some folks like it, many did not.
          To each their own I suppose. I played it both ways and it didn't ruin the experience either way. Its still linear, you still shoot the same couple of enemies, you still run go around in these incredible dark rooms even with the flashlight on your gun.
          You knew if you touched or grabbed a new gun or piece of gear the wall behind you would move and wave of imps would harass you....etc,etc.

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        February 6, 2014 9:32 AM

        I'm not sure you understand what Carmack's role at Id actually was.

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