John Carmack steps down as consulting CTO for VR at Meta

SAN FRANCISCO: John Carmack, known for his work on virtual reality as well as classic games like Doom and Quake, has stepped down from his role as consulting CTO for VR at Meta, the media reported. He had worked at the company for more than eight years.

According to The New York Times, Carmack, 52, criticised his employer in an internal post written by him.

While Meta is in the process of transitioning from a social networking company to one focused on the metaverse, he said the company is running at "half its effectiveness" and has "a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort".

"It has been a struggle for me. I have a voice at the highest levels here, so it feels like I should be able to move things, but I'm evidently not persuasive enough," Carmack was quoted as saying.

In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus, the leading virtual reality company, for $2 billion.

Carmack was once one of the driving forces behind the development of virtual reality headsets.

He stayed with Facebook after Mark Zuckerberg renamed the company Meta and shifted its focus to the metaverse last year, said the report.

In August, Meta chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg stepped down from the position after spending 14 years as the second most-important executive at the social network.

Last month, Meta laid off nearly 11,000 employees, or 13 per cent of its global workforce, amid tough macroeconomic conditions.