Bad news for VR advocates, as it seems the lawsuit between ZeniMax Media and Oculus VR, owned by Bethesda and Facebook respectively, is pushing through.
In the latest legal turn, US district judge Jorge A Solis has turned down Facebook’s motion to dismiss five counts of the lawsuit, which focus on allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of an non-disclosure agreement and unjust enrichment.
It seems Solis’ ruling has decided these motions are based on questions of fact, ie, whether the allegations are true. This is something that has to be decided in the courts. If Facebook would have successfully argued that these allegations were not covered by law, they would have been successful in getting the case dismissed.
As a brief recap, this all started with John Carmack, who vacillated between roles in Zenimax-owned id software and helping in Oculus Rift development. There was even a point when Carmack insisted he worked for both companies, but eventually, he left id for Oculus, and this was when parent company Zenimax publicly accused Carmack of giving Oculus VR technology that they owned.
Zenimax also alleges that Oculus is already benefiting from and millions of dollars’ worth of research, and that instead of agreeing to do business with Zenimax, that Oculus began poaching their employees.
If you’re a fan of both companies, the following months will not be fun to watch. The lawsuit doesn’t just set them against each other, but may hamper either company’s business, including their upcoming products. Bear in mind, this includes Oculus Rift, Fallout 4, Doom, and Dishonored 2.
Judge Solis has set a preliminary jury trial date of Aug. 1, 2016, but for everyone concerned, hopefully, the two could reach a settlement before this goes all the way.
