Nintendo is busting into the world of VR in a big way. Again.
On March 30, Oculus stunned VR enthusiasts everywhere with a simple announcement: that VR wunderkind Palmer Luckey, who co-founded Oculus and created the Oculus Rift, would be leaving the company as of the end of the week.
According to an official Facebook statement:
Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer’s legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and helped build an industry. We’re thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best.
The past year has been a fraught one for 24-year-old Luckey. In October, The Daily Beast revealed that he had financially supported a pro-Trump political “shitposting” organization called Nimble America to the tune of $10,000. Then, in January, after a high-profile court proceeding, Facebook was ordered to pay $500 million in damages to ZeniMax, who claimed that Oculus had been built on stolen technology.
There has been plenty of speculation about where Luckey will end up next, but now, not 48 hours since the revelation, a new announcement has put the question to rest: Palmer Luckey is joining Nintendo to help redesign what many herald as an early pioneer and remarkable flop in virtual reality technology: Virtual Boy.
Nintendo has been in headlines recently after the successful launch of its Switch system, with standout title and Zelda franchise installment Breath of the Wild leading the charge. So it makes sense that the company would want to capitalize on an old title in a new way.
Luckey is being brought on as a “Senior Advisor,” whose role involves a redesign of the physical console, as well as overseeing the production of original and adapted IP.
Nintendo officials have been quick to assure that no Oculus or ZeniMax code will be used in their flagship virtual reality product.
Luckey, who has maintained six months of near-blackout silence across his social media accounts, has finally made a comment to address his career pivot, saying only that now was about the time we should all, “walk the dinosaur for April Fool’s Day.”
It’s up to us to guess when Kickstarter pre-sales for the Virtual Boy 2.0 will begin.