John Carmack expresses optimism and concern over Facebook/Oculus deal

John Carmack has spoken out about Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR, expressing confidence in the social media giant, while also expressing concern that tech startups will now enter the field with the goal of acquisition over innovation.

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Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack has spoken out about Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR. The former id studio founder addressed the 'self-focused' and 'short-sighted' concerns raised following the sale, while also speaking out about his own concerns. His main one being that the sale takes away from what Oculus could have ultimately become as a standalone company, while also sending a message that startup tech companies will aim for the goal of acquisition over innovation.

"Instead of Oculus being their own specialized operation that could create it’s own goals and emergent desires, we now have a massive cultural force whose energy is being funneled (along with many others) to a singular entity who’s goals and desires have been long-since determined," Carmack said on Tumblr (via his own Twitter account). "The internet emerged a model of social capitalism where niche businesses can operate and grow naturally with a set audience, and then blast past them to wild proportions when a truly transcendent product is delivered. It may be a personal grievance, but the all-to-the-top approach this represents sits poorly with me. Cultural evolution is the most important thing in the age of information, good ideas can and should change paradigms. It is deeply upsetting to watch independently operating forces that create life-changing innovations get sucked into the old system just as they reach potential to break a standard model."

Carmack's thoughts extended to user comments, expressing initial skepticism with the Facebook sale. However, he does express confidence that the company will see Oculus' vision through.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting Facebook (or this soon)," Carmack added. "I have zero personal background with them, and I could think of other companies that would have more obvious synergies. However, I do have reasons to believe that they get the Big Picture as I see it, and will be a powerful force towards making it happen. You don't make a commitment like they just did on a whim."

Facebook purchased Oculus a week ago for $2 billion in cash, stock, and incentives. The company has expressed interest in Oculus remaining on its current path, as well as using their technology for other pursuits outside of gaming.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 31, 2014 1:30 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, John Carmack expresses optimism and concern over Facebook/Oculus deal.

    John Carmack has spoken out about Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR, expressing confidence in the social media giant, while also expressing concern that tech startups will now enter the field with the goal of acquisition over innovation.

    • reply
      March 31, 2014 1:32 PM

      "now enter"? He's commenting on the well established practice of developing a company to be acquired. It's not a new phenomenon and the OR acquisition is going to change it at all either way.

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      March 31, 2014 1:33 PM

      headline is kind of misleading. it implies he's concerned over the oculus acquisition.

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      March 31, 2014 2:23 PM

      Kids these days, they don't even know what John, f@#$ing, Carmack looks like.

      Is this what society has led to?

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      March 31, 2014 2:24 PM

      i've seen lots of dudes referring to carmack as the canary in the coal mine that is facebook oculus but people need to recall that the last acquisition he was part of was idsoftware to zenimax and that one sounded much more sensible than this one.

      hopefully we will have shorterm a positive development due to facebook moneyhat investment and people like abrash coming on board and with carmack on board the software side will be great. this said, they know jackshit about hardware the way sony does and having facebook loom over this longterm is always something to be cautious about.

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      March 31, 2014 3:36 PM

      NOBODY EXPECTS THE FACEBOOK ACQUISITION!!

      Also, I have to smirk at the comment of, "You don't make a commitment like they just did on a whim," because lately it seems like Facebook HAS been doing acquisitions on a whim, at a regular clip, as though Mark Zuckerberg were just whipping out his American Express Black Card and saying, "I'll take that company, thanks.": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook

      That said, the bigger acquisitions (Instagram, WhatsApp) were definitely planned out in secret for some time ahead of the public announcement (as most corporate acquisitions by publicly traded companies are), and the Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions seem to have been very prescient ones, in terms of cornering off a part of the social media market before other competitors do (or before the acquired companies become a competitive force against Facebook).

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        March 31, 2014 4:16 PM

        No matter what people say, all I can think about are the acquisitions I have seen first hand (one of them with a company I worked for very recently). They always say things like "we will be very hands off", "things will run as usual", "nothing will change".... until a few months later when everything changes, people leave, and it all falls apart. Every, single, time it ends up not being as nice as it first sounds.

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      March 31, 2014 4:32 PM

      There is an article on Oculus and John Carmack in the latest Time magazine. That was a weird thing to see.

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