Carmack sues Zenimax over allegedly withheld payment

John Carmack has filed suit against former employer Zenimax Media alleging that he's owed $22.5 million from the company's acquisition of id Software, following a jury finding his current employer Oculus VR guilty of copyright infringement.

Best known as one of the founding members of id Software, responsible for gaming classics including Doom and Quake, John Carmack should have enjoyed a considerable windfall when the company he helped found was bought by Zenimax in 2009 and rolled into the company's Bethesda studio group. According to a lawsuit first spotted by the Dallas Morning News, though, that's not the case - and Carmack is looking for $22.5 million he claims to be owed.

According to his legal filing, Carmack claims that Zenimax provided Carmack in his role as the majority shareholder of id Software a promissory note to the tune of $45.1 million. Half of the note was converted properly, with Carmack receiving Zenimax stock to an equal value. Now, though, Carmack claims Zenimax is holding out on the other half - leaving the company owing him an impressive $22.5 million.

Zenimax, though, has called the suit 'completely without merit,' positioning it against Carmack's loss in a recent suit alleging copyright infringement by his current employer Oculus VR stemming from code Carmack wrote while employed by Zenimax. The company has also pointed to an earlier claim by Carmack that Zenimax had broken the terms of his employment agreement with the company, a claim a jury dismissed.

For the curious, the Dallas Morning News has uploaded a full docket for the suit.