Why the creator of Doom left id Software for Oculus VR

John Carmack, creator of the Doom series and co-founder of id Software, has revealed the reason why he left the studio to work at Oculus VR.

For the first time since his departure in November last year, Carmack spoke at length about his reasons for leaving id Software in a recent interview with USA Today. The father of the first-person shooter genre, Carmack played an instrumental role in the development of the Doom and Quake series during his tenure at id Software.

He cited hopes that Oculus VR and id Software's parent company ZeniMax Media would reach an agreement that allowed games he worked on to be released with support for the Oculus Rift headset.

According to the interview, had the deal gone ahead, several of id Software's games could have been released with support for the Oculus Rift headset, including upcoming title Doom 4. The deal he proposed never came to fruition.

Carmack first joined Oculus VR full time in August last year. Shortly afterwards, Bethesda issued a statement confirming that he would continue his role in providing technical leadership for games in development at id Software.

Three months later, he left id Software to work at Oculus VR as the company's chief technical officer.

"When it became clear that I wasn't going to have the opportunity to do any work on VR while at id Software, I decided to not renew my contract," Carmack said.

Oculus VR demoed the latest version of its Oculus Rift headset at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, a prototype called Crystal Cove. The head-mounted display boasts improved resolution from its 1080p OLED screen, and a new real-position tracking system that utilizes an external camera.