John Carmack, the open-source advocate and co-founder of id Software (known for Quake and Wolfenstein 3D), announced today he will be leaving his position as an executive consultant for VR at Meta.
According to his post on Facebook, he is saying good-bye to Meta, the company that bought Oculus in 2014. Though he joined Oculus in 2013, he reduced his activities at Meta (formerly known as Facebook) five years later because of his lack of satisfaction at the virtual reality division.
“We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort,” wrote Carmack via his Facebook page. “There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy. Some may scoff and contend we are doing just fine, but others will laugh and say “Half? Ha! I’m at quarter efficiency!”
He continued expressing his lack of satisfaction. “It has been a struggle for me. I have a voice at the highest levels here, so it feels like I should be able to move things, but I’m evidently not persuasive enough. A good fraction of the things I complain about eventually turn my way after a year or two passes and evidence piles up, but I have never been able to kill stupid things before they cause damage, or set a direction and have a team actually stick to it. I think my influence at the margins has been positive, but it has never been a prime mover.”
Without John Carmack and his expertise at Meta, who would be able to fill in his shoes?
[Source]: John Carmack Facebook: I resigned from my position as an executive consultant for VR with Meta – [Archive] – [Screenshot].