A Texas jury has today awarded Bethesda parent company Zenimax $500,000,000 USD after finding Oculus failed to comply with non-disclosure agreements signed by co-founder Palmer Luckey.
The award was issued to Zenimax with the jury also finding that Oculus did not misappropriate virtual reality trade secrets.
From the total amount awarded, Oculus will pay Zenimax $200,000,000 USD for breaking an NDA, and $50,000,000 USD for copyright infringement. Oculus’ Luckey is up for $50,000,000 USD himself, while former CEO Brendan Iribe is responsible for $150,000,000 USD.
Despite the payout, Oculus considers this a win.
“The heart of this case was about whether Oculus stole ZeniMax’s trade secrets, and the jury found decisively in our favor,” an Oculus representative told Polygon.
“We’re obviously disappointed by a few other aspects of today’s verdict, but we are undeterred. Oculus products are built with Oculus technology. Our commitment to the long-term success of VR remains the same, and the entire team will continue the work they’ve done since day one – developing VR technology that will transform the way people interact and communicate.”
ZeniMax first accused former id Software employee of stealing virtual reality trade secrets back in 2014. A court case on the matter began last month.
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