Halo 4 art director leaves 343 to join Oculus VR

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May 14, 2014

A senior employee at Halo 4 developer 343 Industries, Kenneth Scott, has left the studio to join Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift which continues to amass talent from throughout the industry.

Scott will assume the same title--Art Director--that he carried at 343, according to a tweet sent out by Oculus (via GamesIndustry.biz). He had been with 343 since 2008, and prior to that he spent a decade as the art director for id Software.

"Welcome Kenneth Scott, Oculus Art Director, formerly of 343 and id Software," the tweet reads. "Ken is building our 1st-party content team!"

Scott is hardly the first former id Software staffer to end up with Oculus; most notably, John Carmack assumed the role of chief technology officer while still at id, where he continued to work until several months later. (The parent company of id, ZeniMax, is currently suing Oculus, which has vowed to fight back.) Soon after Carmack went to Oculus, another id staffer, former Rage creative director Matt Hooper, made the same move. Notable developers from other studios, including Valve's Atman Binstock and Michael Abrash, have also been hired by Oculus.

The company aspires to create a platform with a billion people using it--what CEO Brendan Iribe describes as "the largest MMO ever made." After its recent $2 billion acquisition by Facebook, there has been some doubt cast on whether gaming remains a key point for the company, but Iribe has stated Oculus is "very committed to gaming."