Skip to main content

Zenimax alleges John Carmack stole documents to help Oculus develop Rift

Programmer extraordinaire and former Id Software poster boy John Carmack has been under fire from publishing giant ZeniMax for more than two years now, facing claims that his new employer Oculus knowingly lifted technology and research from ZeniMax in order to create the Rift. At the time, Oculus vehemently denied that the Rift, or any of its other products, had even “a line of ZeniMax” code, but ZeniMax’s latest allegations call that statement into question.

In a new complaint (obtained by Game Informer’s Mike Futter) filed by ZeniMax against Oculus, parent company Facebook, Carmack, and Oculus co-founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe, the company alleges that Carmack stole “thousands” of ZeniMax documents from his work computer via a USB device and delivered them to Oculus. These documents allegedly contained ZeniMax’s intellectual property, which would violate his employee termination agreement.

Recommended Videos

“After he had joined Oculus, Carmack returned to ZeniMax’s premises and took without permission a customized tool that Carmack and other ZeniMax personnel had developed for work on virtual reality,” the complaint adds.

Oculus, naturally, views the lawsuit as nothing more than a witch hunt. Back when it began in 2014, the VR giant stated that ZeniMax had never been able to actually identify specific stolen code in any of Oculus’ products, and that Carmack’s reason for leaving the company was, in fact, because ZeniMax had “stopped investing” in VR games. It also asserted that Carmack never took “any intellectual property” from his former employer, and Carmack reiterated this point himself.

The latter point, concerning ZeniMax’s alleged lack of investment in VR, no longer seems true. Both Doom and Fallout 4 are making their way to virtual reality, but they will be on the Rift’s direct and more expensive competitor, the HTC Vive. It’s unclear if there are plans to bring the games to other VR platforms at some point in the future.

“This complaint filed by ZeniMax is one-sided and conveys only ZeniMax’s interpretation of the story,” a representative from Oculus told Digital Trends. “We continue to believe this case has no merit, and we will address all of ZeniMax’s allegations in court.”

Updated 8/24: Added quote from Oculus representative.

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Steam delists hundreds of adult games
Steam Games

Why it matters: Vague policies on platforms like Steam risk chilling developer creativity, especially for indie creators tackling edgy themes, while raising broader concerns about content freedom in gaming amid global regulations.

The news: Valve quietly updated its Steamworks guidelines to ban content violating payment processors' rules, targeting "certain kinds" of adult-only material that's not properly labeled or age-gated.

Read more
Loved Expedition 33’s combat? You should try this indie rock RPG
An evil corporate throne room in Fretless.

It's been over a month since I finished everything there was to do in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and yet I still found myself craving more. I had my qualms with what direction the story took in the final act, but the combat had me hooked and never let go. The satisfaction of mastering parry timing and crafting the perfect build with the Pictos and Luminas was more than enough motivation to finish the story and take down every optional challenge the world had to throw at me.

While I could go back and mess with the difficulty modifiers for a new challenge, I instead found a hidden gem of an RPG that scratches that same itch for tactical but reactive combat, but with a few unique twists that have more than filled that void.

Read more
How long is Donkey Kong Bananza?
Donkey Kong and Pauline blast the enviornment in Donkey Kong Bananza.,

We only had to wait one month after the Nintendo Switch 2 launch to get our first shiny new 3D platformer. However, it isn't a new Mario game like you might've assumed, but DK taking center stage. Donkey Kong Bananza is all about smashing and digging your way with Pauline to the planet's core while facing off against a cast of villains. Being able to terraform the levels completely changes the pace of a normal platformer, but does it mean you can bypass everything and finish the game in a few hours? What if you are the type of person who wants to get every collectible there is? In either case, you might be surprised at how Donkey Kong Bananza actually is. After playing the game from start to finish, here's how long you can expect to spend playing Donkey Kong Bananza.

How long to beat Donkey Kong Bananza?

Read more