ZeniMax and Facebook finally settle over 4 year long Oculus lawsuit

For a long time, Oculus VR was an unchallenged player in the VR market and is still a popular option for consumers. (Source: Oculus)

In 2014, ZeniMax sued Oculus VR on allegations that CEO Palmer Lucky had stolen technology that made the Oculus Rift VR headset possible, and it became a 4 year long battle between ZeniMax and Facebook once the latter bought Oculus VR. Finally, the suit has been privately settled for some amount of cash.

Matthew Connatser, Published 12/16/2018

It was big news in 2014 when ZeniMax, a video game studio made successful by Bethesda and Id Software, sued Oculus VR and claimed its CEO at the time Palmer Lucky and CTO John Carmack had stolen key technologies and trade secrets that were pivotal in the development of the Oculus VR headset, the world's first largely affordable and modern VR solution. It could have been a quick job were it not for the fact that Facebook bought them just months after Oculus was served. Up until recently, Facebook was on the hook for $250 million (cut down from $500 million initially) and both companies were appealing the case to a higher court so that each company could get better terms over the other.

However, Facebook and ZeniMax have both decided to privately settle the case for an uncertain amount of cash, probably around $250 million or perhaps substantially more or less depending on if one company thought they might lose the appeal. In a statement, ZeniMax CEO Robert Altman said

We are pleased that a settlement has been reached and are fully satisfied by the outcome. While we dislike litigation, we will always vigorously defend against any infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property by third parties.

Oculus Rift owners can finally rest easy knowing their precious ecosystem is no longer in danger.