In what my journalistic spidey sense tells me is probably-not-a-coincidence, former id creative director Matt Hooper has chosen the week we’ll remember as that time John Carmack joined the Oculus Rift team to, erm, join the Oculus Rift team.
“We’re looking for more all stars!”, say the VR specialists.
Hooper will work from Oculus’ newly opened Dallas office, where as of Wednesday Carmack has set up shop as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. His job title is listed on LinkedIn as Director of Development.
An Oculus rep told Polygon: “We are thrilled to have Matt Hooper join the Oculus VR team as our Director of Development. He’s a top talent who had been out of id for a few months and ended up being a great fit for the Oculus team.”
Hooper left id in February after a year and a half stint as creative director. Given Doom 4’s reported reworking, I imagine we’ll never see the fruits of his work in that role. Before that though, he led design on Rage – and began his career at John Romero’s Ion Storm. I’ll bet he has some stories to tell.
Question: what on Earth are Oculus doing hiring a man who is pretty unambiguously a game designer? What are they up to?
Thanks, VG247.