Oculus VR has recruited into its ranks yet another high-profile name from the gaming world: Kenneth Scott from Halo 4 developer 343 Industries.
Scott, who served as the Art Director to the latest Halo game, will serve the same role at his new employer Oculus, who also tweeted that he would be “building our 1st-party content team!”
Prior to his employment at 343 in 2008, Scott served as art director for id Software for a decade. John Carmack, one of the founders of id, also left the studio to join Oculus, along with Rage creative director Matt Hooper, also of id software.
Zenimax Media, id’s parent company, is currently in a legal tussle with Oculus over what it claims are unauthorized uses of VR assets Carmack developed while under Zenimax’s payroll. Oculus has since responded to Zenimax’s claims with blow-by-blow debunking of all their allegations.
Other notable developers who have joined Oculus’s ranks include Atman Binstock and Michael Abrash, former Valve employees working on the company’s own VR endeavors, and Electronic Arts executive David De Martini. Compared to them, Scott’s hiring is most interesting because it shows that Oculus intends to develop its own games for the Rift, rather than just working on hardware.
Oculus VR, who were acquired by Facebook in a $2 billion deal, have stated their aspirations to connect a billion people via an Oculus VR developed MMO, and as a result are also seeking to hire 3D animators and artists.