ZeniMax Media, parent of Id Software, took action against Oculus VR last week, with claims that the company had made use of technology developed while John Carmack – formerly of Id, currently of Oculus – while he was still at Id.
Oculus has responded to the claims, sending a press release out via email.
“We are disappointed but not surprised by Zenimax’s actions and we will prove that all of its claims are false,” says Oculus. The company offers a bullet point list, outlining their stance on the accusations. Here are a few highlights:
- There is not a line of Zenimax code or any of its technology in any Oculus products.
- Zenimax did not pursue claims against Oculus for IP or technology, Zenimax has never contributed any IP or technology to Oculus, and only after the Facebook deal was announced has Zenimax now made these claims through its lawyers.
- Despite the fact that the full source code for the Oculus SDK is available online (developer.oculusvr.com), Zenimax has never identified any ‘stolen’ code or technology.
The company has reiterated its initial stance – this is ZeniMax making a cash grab after the huge investment in Oculus VR by Facebook. Oculus is making good on the promise they made to ‘vigorously defend’ the company and its investors, starting with this return fire.
With Oculus reiterating the availability of their code, they appear to be inviting the Internet to scour code present in the Oculus SDK, laying all their cards out on the table.
If the lawsuit did find in favor of ZeniMax, it could have some far reaching implications for Oculus VR and Facebook, but the company’s response is confident.
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