T w e n t y S i d e d

When the Zenimax vs. Facebook trial ended, Zenimax was awarded $500 million. Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that. But let me do things backwards and start with talking about Carmack’s reaction to the verdict.

Disclaimer: Like I said at the start of this series, I am not a lawyer. This is a complicated case and I am not an expert on the law, VR, or corporate contracts. I’m working with incomplete records of complex events where there was often more than two sides to every story. I’ve done what I could to be accurate, but this series is intended as opinion commentary, not authoritative historical record.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Zenimax vs. Facebook Part 5: The Verdict”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

Like I said last week, Zenimax seems to be suingYes, the initial trial is over, but appeals are ongoing and I expect this will drag on for ages. Oculus over the “theft” of it’s technology. This is a tricky argument because they’re accusing Oculus of stealing technology that Carmack was apparently sharing freely. You can argue that Carmack shouldn’t be sharing information against his employer’s wishes, but that makes this into a fight between Zenimax and Carmack, and Zenimax doesn’t want that fight.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This is a complicated case and I am not an expert on the law, VR, or corporate contracts. I’m working with incomplete records of complex events where there was often more than two sides to every story. I’ve done what I could to be accurate, but series is intended as opinion commentary, not authoritative historical record.

I am not a lawyer, but it seems to me that going after Carmack would mean Zenimax admitting that it was their own fault that Oculus had all this technology. They needed to push blame on Luckey’s team, because if they try to blame Carmack then the blame just boomerangs back on them. Why did you continue to share secrets you didn’t want the other party to have? Why did you continue to employ someone who was giving out your secrets? This sounds like an internal company dispute. Whatever disagreements Zenimax has with Carmack, he doesn’t have billions of dollars for them to sue him for and he doesn’t own the Rift.

They really wanted in on this VR stuff, and the best way to do that was to humor Carmack and try to entice Luckey to show up at the bargaining table. Or it was, until the moment when Carmack left.

Punishing Carmack was a dead end. So was bargaining with Luckey. And once Carmack was gone, their only move was to take Oculus to court. Carmack left for good in November 2013, and the Facebook acquisition was announced in March of 2014, just three months later.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Zenimax vs. Facebook Part 4: The Airing of Grievances”

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.