Oculus CTO Fires Back Against ZeniMax, Files Own Lawsuit

Now it begins. With the recent win by ZeniMax against Oculus where the gaming publisher was awarded $500 million due to stolen technology, the VR firm’s chief of technology, John Carmack is filing his own lawsuit. The lawsuit is meant for claiming unpaid earnings that ZeniMax supposedly still owes its former employee when he still worked there.

On the surface, it would appear that the latest shot in the ZeniMax/Oculus war is not related to the original $6 billion lawsuit that just ended between the two companies, TechCrunch reports. Rather, this is Carmack’s way of telling his former bosses what he thinks of their accusation that he is a thief.

The lawsuit is basically asking for a $22.5 million payout that Carmack claims he is owed for when he sold id Studio to ZeniMax. For those who don’t know, id Studio is responsible for some of the most iconic video game titles in the industry, including Doom and Quake.

The acquisition was set at $150 million in total, with Carmack set to get $45 million who decided to divide that amount in two. The first half would come in the form of shares at ZeniMax. The other half was supposed to be given to him in cash.

According to the lawsuit, the video game publisher is refusing to give Carmack the money that he is owed or to convert the shares that he has into cash. ZeniMax provided a statement to Dallas News with regards to the lawsuit, basically disregarding Carmack’s assertions. The video game publisher stresses that they have already been through this before and the plaintiff’s request had been denied in court.

"Apparently lacking in remorse, and disregarding the evidence of his many faithless acts and violations of law, Mr. Carmack has decided to try again," the statement from ZeniMax reads.