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[Polygon] Oculus lawsuit ends with half billion dollar judgment awarded to ZeniMax

Jarmel

Banned
So Oculus losing half a Bil... with a big company like Facebook hoping to recoup their investment in the company, I could see Oculus (or parts of Oculus) getting sold, especially with competition so fierce.

Damage is kind of already done at this point. Selling Oculus wouldn't really generate that much revenue anyway.
 
Zenimax is valued at just over 2.5bn so 500m ain't nothing to sneeze at.

Yep for Facebook, its just a small ding to their pocketbooks.

But a huge win for ZM. Especially considering their internal teams are very small. This money can go a really long way for them.
 

LewieP

Member
Oculus got off relatively lightly considering just how much ZeniMax was asking for.

That said for a company like ZeniMax $500 million is a massive cash influx for them. They can do a hell of a lot with that kind of money.
Can't wait to see the improvements to the underlying tech in the next elder scrolls.
 

jett

D-Member
Palmer Luckey is the gift that keeps on giving.

I wonder if Facebook will ever recoup the money they sunk into Oculus. What's it now with this judgment, $3.5 billion?
 

Tripolygon

Banned
You never ask for little in lawsuits, you ask for 4 billion and they give you 500 million. Regardless, you still make out like a bandit.
 

Compsiox

Banned
Palmer Luckey is the gift that keeps on giving.

I wonder if Facebook will ever recoup the money they sunk into Oculus. What's it now with this judgment, $3.5 billion?

Indeed. I can't see them ever making it back. Their reputation is probably only going to get worse.
 
To me it feels like this settlement reflects what Facebook is worth rather than what Zenimax actually lost. It reminds me of how millionaires get more expensive speeding tickets in some scandinavian countries. Strange to think that if Oculus was still independent that this settlement might be much different. Maybe it would just bankrupt them? American justice is strange.
 
That said for a company like ZeniMax $500 million is a massive cash influx for them. They can do a hell of a lot with that kind of money.
That would be great if it actually went back into the company. But i have a feeling most will go directly to the owners pockets
 
Oculus/facebook got away with it, basically a slap on the wrist of a fine. By saying trade secrets were not stolen, it prevents Zenimax from pursuing the stuff Facebook was REALLY afraid of - getting a % of every rift sold, stopping the rift from being sold, patent infringements, etc.

They just had to pay $500m out which is nothing to a company like facebook, they earn around 35m/day in profits so thats basically 15 days of profits. Facebook is sitting on 20b+ in cash.
 
Seems like a good size settlement but Zenimax's CEO used to be a pretty high-powered lawyer I thought. So long as they can't lose this settlement outcome, I wouldn't be surprised if Zenimax keeps fighting for more even if it goes nowhere.
 
The part I don't understand is why award 500mil in damages if you didn't actually misappropriate trade secrets? I thought that was the whole thrust of the suit.

The OP and article both state that the jury found Palmer Luckey (and by extension, Oculus) in violation of an NDA. Presumably Polygon and other outlets are going over the full decision (or will once it's released) and can offer more details on the various parts of the case.
 

GOOCHY

Member
I wonder how Facebook is feeling about Mr. Luckey after all the political turmoil last year and now this.
 

LordCanti

Member
At least Carmack is absolved in all this if I'm interpreting it correctly. Palmer is the one that broke the NDA, and it's Facebook that will have to pay for it by extension.
 
So it wasn't Carmack but Luckey the one that costed them half a billion dollars?

Hope that counts to make Facebook review his contract or something.
 

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Its not even a lot of money compared to what zenimax wanted, much less for facebook.
 

entremet

Member
Bullshit lawsuit and award. Not suprised it's Texas.

I don't give a shit for Luckey. He's horrible. But I can't stand for this BS ruling.
 
Palmer Luckey is the gift that keeps on giving.

I wonder if Facebook will ever recoup the money they sunk into Oculus. What's it now with this judgment, $3.5 billion?

correct

2bn for the company (paid in FB stock, not cash)
700mln for employees
300mln for milestones
500mln lawsuit


edit: damn i missed the 500mln developing support
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
So it wasn't Carmack but Luckey the one that costed them half a billion dollars?

Hope that counts to make Facebook review his contract or something.
Yeah, I have a hard time understading who's at fault here when, especially since the court decided that "Oculus Didn't Misappropriate Trade Secrets From ZeniMax".
 

LordCanti

Member
Yeah, I have a hard time understading who's at fault here when, especially since the court decided that "Oculus Didn't Misappropriate Trade Secrets From ZeniMax".

Palmer is at fault for breaking a non-disclosure agreement with Zenimax according to the decision.
 

inky

Member
Should've been at least 1 Billion

dr_evil-e1349350780691.jpg
 
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