John Carmack resigns from id Software

Id Software co-founder John Carmack has resigned from the company, according to a statement released to PC Gamer. Known for his influential work on games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, Carmack will presumably focus more on his role at Oculus VR, the company he joined in August as chief technology officer.

“John Carmack, who has become interested in focusing on things other than game development at id, has resigned from the studio," said id Software studio director Tim Willits in a statement to PC Gamer. "John's work on id Tech 5 and the technology for the current development work at id is complete, and his departure will not affect any current projects. We are fortunate to have a brilliant group of programmers at id who worked with John and will carry on id's tradition of making great games with cutting-edge technology. As colleagues of John for many years, we wish him well.”

Carmack is the second high-level developer to leave id Software this year, after the departure of CEO Todd Hollenshead back in June. While Hollenshead was said to be leaving to pursue "other personal interests," Carmack's immediate future looks closely tied to the development of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. As an early innovator of 3D graphics, it only makes sense that this is where Carmack has apparently chosen to focus his energy. Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey told TechRadar recently that it's precisely Carmack's technical expertise that's being put to use on the ongoing development of the Rift headset.

"He's super smart, he's working on everything," Luckey said. "Carmack is more of an engineer than a game designer. We have people on the team who are game designers and who have come from that background. His game design background is not the thing that's being applied the most in Oculus right now, it's his incredible programming talent and understanding of how to integrate hardware with software effectively."