Oculus VR John Carmack Accused by ZeniMax After Facebook Acquisition: Developer Code, Technology IP and Headset Patent Create Controversy
Oculus VR is embroiled in some controversy after the accusation of ZeniMax that Oculus Stole the VR Technology from Fallout and Elder Scrolls, ZeniMax's parent company.
In a statement released by Oculus VR today, they said that the actions of ZeniMax did not surprise them. The company also gave a list of main points that are of importance to the accusation and claimed that Oculus products do not have any of ZeniMax's technology or code and that no ZeniMax intellectual property was taken by John Carmack.
The intention and language of the ZeniMax non-disclosure agreement signed by Palmer Luckey was misinterpreted by ZeniMax and John Cormack's main reason for leaving ZeniMax permanently in August 2013 was because he was prevented by ZeniMax from working on VR and a discontinued investment in VR games within the company.
VR support for Doom 3 BFG was called off by ZeniMax because of ZeniMax's demands for a "non-dilutable equity stake" in Oculus was refused by the latter company.
No claims for IP or technology were filed by ZeniMax against Oculus because no IP or technology was given to Oculus. ZeniMax filed claims through its lawyers after the announcement of the Facebook deal.
ZeniMax did not identify any "stolen code or technology" although the Oculus SDK full source code is available online.
John Cormack, the renowned game designer, was accused by ZeniMax of getting intellectual property inappropriately, which included the Rift headset. Cormack joined Oculus VR last summer and his Rift headset is now the property of Oculus VR.
Posting on Twitter, Cormack declared that not one of his works had ever been patented. He admitted that the code was owned by ZeniMax, but not the VR. He further added that zero lines of code that he wrote while he was employed by ZeniMax are used by Oculus.
Oculus VR is owned by Facebook and is the creator of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.