Facebook In US$2 Billion Lawsuit Over Oculus Virtual Reality Technology

A video game company has alleged that Facebook-owned Oculus VR stole its virtual reality technology and is pursuing US$2 billion in damages.

ZeniMax, whose subsidiaries have developed popular games including Doom and Fallout, claimed that former employee John Carmack stole intellectual property when he left the company to join Oculus in 2013.

Carmack and Oculus founder Palmer Luckey began communicating in 2012, ZeniMax said, when Carmack allegedly copied thousands of documents related to software and hardware from company computers.

According to ZeniMax, Facebook was aware that Oculus had stolen intellectual property for its VR headset Rift when it acquired the company in 2014.

Facebook and Oculus executives have denied ZeniMax’s allegations.

In December, Carmack said in a filing that he had been permitted to be involved with Oculus at the time under his employment agreement with ZeniMax, and had also been allowed to publicly disclose his VR research by the company.

Carmack said he had pitched a similar VR headset to ZeniMax, but CEO Robert Altman rejected the idea. ZeniMax also turned down the opportunity to be an early Oculus investor.

The trial between Oculus VR and ZeniMax, which was first filed in May 2014, is expected to last several weeks.