Valve's Michael Abrash exits company to join Oculus

Michael Abrash was previously known as one of the faces of Valve's VR initiative, having most recently spoken about the potential of VR tech during January's Steam Developer Days. Today, Abrash has announced his depature from Valve, having joined the team at Oculus VR as its Chief Scientist.

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Michael Abrash was previously known as one of the faces of Valve's VR initiative, having most recently spoken about the potential of VR tech during January's Steam Developer Days. Today, Abrash has announced his depature from Valve, having joined the team at Oculus VR as its Chief Scientist. The move reunites him with John Carmack, who he previously worked with on Doom and Quake, among other PC titles.

"It's great to be working with John [Carmack] again after all these years, and with that comes a sense of deja vu," Abrash wrote on the Oculus website. "It feels like it did when I went to Id, but on steroids – this time we're working on technology that will change not just computer gaming, but potentially how all of us interact with computers, information, and each other every day. I think it's going to be the biggest game-changer I've ever seen – and I've seen quite a lot over the last 57 years."

Abrash describes his path towards Oculus in great detail, discussing his time with the Oculus Rift prototype and generally praising the work of Carmack and company co-founder Palmer Luckey. He also addressed Facebook's recent acquisition of Oculus, touting it as a positive move that will only help move VR tech forward.

"Facebook's acquisition of Oculus means that VR is going to happen in all its glory," Abrash added. "The resources and long-term commitment that Facebook brings gives Oculus the runway it needs to solve the hard problems of VR – and some of them are hard indeed. I now fully expect to spend the rest of my career pushing VR as far ahead as I can."

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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 28, 2014 4:15 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Valve's Michael Abrash exits company to join Oculus.

    Michael Abrash was previously known as one of the faces of Valve's VR initiative, having most recently spoken about the potential of VR tech during January's Steam Developer Days. Today, Abrash has announced his depature from Valve, having joined the team at Oculus VR as its Chief Scientist.

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      March 28, 2014 4:20 PM

      That's awesome, but Facebook. God I'm so confused. While I do want to see Snow Crash in my lifetime, but Facebook.

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        March 28, 2014 4:22 PM

        [deleted]

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        March 31, 2014 3:46 AM

        In this case I think Facebook just equals lots of $$$. Sure they could ruin the tech and use it for stupid gimmicks, but it makes more sense for them to foster the tech and get it over the hurdle from niche to mainstream. They are not going to make money from pushing crappy VR on a few people, they are going to make money from making VR so good that everyone loves it.... then trying to make money.

        Given Sony's Project Morpheus Rift may have been in trouble. They created the tech, but Sony had the resources to jump on it and bury them. Without help we would have been left with only one choice for VR, now with the resources of Facebook the Rift can compete.

        Just to be clear, I have no love for Facebook... but I have tried the Rift and it's the real thing. I want all my (first person) games on this thing in the future and I'll not begrudge Oculus any help they need to make it happen.

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      March 28, 2014 4:22 PM

      WOOOOOOOOOO!!!

      http://giphy.com/gifs/rl0FOxdz7CcxO/tile

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      March 28, 2014 4:26 PM

      CHERRY ON TOP

    • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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      March 28, 2014 4:28 PM

      So he works for Facebook too!?

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      March 29, 2014 4:19 AM

      Abrash really worked on Doom? Never heard of that.

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      March 29, 2014 4:23 AM

      I think VR is going to be the new 3D, its going to be hyped so people buy it but the reality is only a few will use it xD.

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        March 29, 2014 4:56 AM

        I think non-technical people will be a bit disappointed with their first purchase no matter what. Its like looking at a game gear screen after having an iphone, and so much of the other tech involved is just out of the range of "ready". We, on the other hand, will put up with it because we buy imaginary starships and $300 video cards and already want to visit Skyrim.

        That said it does have an initial thrill for everyone, so maybe the same way the Wii didnt sour non-typical gamers on consoles in general, people will be willing to give VR a second chance when theres a reason to (probably an Apple entry or something).

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          March 29, 2014 7:54 AM

          People were just fine with shitty-ass iPad resolutions for quite a while after having used iPhone 4.

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        March 29, 2014 8:01 AM

        I think VR is going to be the new 3Dfx, leading a technology from enthusiasts to the mass.

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        March 29, 2014 8:07 AM

        I don't recall hearing of 3D tvs getting used outside of entertainment. Oculus is already proving interesting for various non entertainment industries.

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      March 29, 2014 8:06 AM

      RIP OR :( first near unlimited funding and now another genius engineer...

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      March 29, 2014 9:50 AM

      [deleted]

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      March 29, 2014 9:59 AM

      Also, really tempted to buy a DK2, but I'll wait. I'm hoping the consumer one will have a battery belt pack if you want to use it wirelessly, but their incredible latency conditions may not enable that.

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