John Carmack is the co-founder of id Software and programmer of prolific games such as Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D. However, the programmer and developer has long since left id and has been Meta’s consulting CTO since 2013. At least, until he announced his plans to leave Meta on Friday.
Carmack announced his decision to leave the company in an internal memo, which the publication described as “draconian,” via Business Insider. In the memo, which was reportedly posted on one of Meta’s internal workplace forums, Carmack criticized Meta’s efforts in augmented and virtual reality.
Carmack’s memo begins by saying, “This is the end of my decade in VR. I have mixed feelings.” A problem with Meta.
“Some people ask me why I care how progress happens, as long as it’s happening?” Carmack asked. “If I wanted to influence others, I’d say an organization that only knows it’s inefficient isn’t prepared for the inevitable competition and/or belt-tightening, but in reality, seeing a 5% GPU utilization figure is more inspiring. Man suffering in labor. I am offended by it“
John Carmack continues to express frustration with his position and the direction the company is headed. He shared that despite his high position, he couldn’t make changes as quickly as he’d like, and, “I’ve never been able to kill stupid things before they do damage, or set a direction and have a team Really stick to it.”
The memo ended on a more hopeful note with Carmack saying, “Enough complaining. I’m tired of fighting and have my own startup to run, but battles can still be won! VR can bring value to most people in the world, No company is better suited to do this than Meta. […] Make Better Decisions and Make Your Products Full of “Damn!”
With VR in mind, the founders of Oculus recently designed a new headset that can actually kill players who die in-game, and if Meta isn’t your thing, PSVR2 is coming soon.
