Oculus CTO Talks Facebook in the Comments of a Random Tumblr Post

John Carmack, the former cofounder of id Software and chief technology officer of Oculus VR, said he believes Facebook - which just acquired his company for $2 billion - gets the 'big picture' of virtual reality.

Carmack expressed his opinion on the acquisition in the comments section of a Tumblr post by Peter Berkman, a Brooklyn-based musician for electronic group Anamanaguchi. His most revealing note was that he wasn't expecting an acquisition this soon.

'I wasn't personally involved in any of the negotiations - I spent an afternoon talking technology with Mark Zuckerberg, and the next week I find out that he bought Oculus,' Carmack wrote. 'Honestly, I wasn't expecting Facebook (or this soon). I have zero personal background with them, and I could think of other companies that would have more obvious synergies. However, I do have reasons to believe that they get the Big Picture as I see it, and will be a powerful force towards making it happen. You don't make a commitment like they just did on a whim.'

Carmack was hired as Oculus VR's CTO in August, though he has been involved with the company since its early days. During the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, he showed an early Oculus Rift virtual reality headset prototype to some journalists and developers.

His comments were made in response to Berkman's concerns that Oculus VR was acquired too early, and that outside money would taint the experience of virtual reality. Carmack argued that virtual reality was too hot - and has too much potential - to not get snapped up quickly.

'The experience is too obviously powerful, and it makes converts on contact. The fairly rapid involvement of the Titans is inevitable, and the real questions were how deeply to partner, and with who,' Carmack wrote.

He also tweeted about the acquisition last week, revealing he wasn't on Facebook.

I suppose I will get a FB account now, so that may lead to some writing a little longer than tweet length...

- John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) March 26, 2014

However, his comments on Berkman's Tumblr post were his longest to date.

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