Software developer extraordinaire John Carmack is taking his eyes to virtual-reality headset maker Oculus, the company announced.
The id Software head will stay on at the company he founded, while also becoming Oculus' new chief technology officer. He will work from Oculus' Dallas office, which is set to open soon.
Oculus showed off its Rift virtual-reality headset at this year's CES after a successful Kickstarter campaign saw the release of a developer's kit for $300.
Carmack's company id Software created the highly influential first-person shooters Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and the Quake series and most recently Rage.
"John is one of the brightest minds of our generation -- pioneer, visionary, and industry legend. There are very few people in the world that can contribute to the Oculus Rift and the future of virtual reality like John can," an Oculus statement said.
Carmack said he looked forward to working with the company, as virtual reality technology is still in its infancy.
"There is a lot more work to do, and there are problems we don't even know about that will need to be solved, but I am eager to work on them. It's going to be awesome," Carmack said in a statement.
The consumer release date for the Oculus Rift, which is compatible with PCs, has yet to be announced, but is widely expected sometime in 2014.
Carmack has been a supporter of Oculus since the beginning and even appeared in a promotional video for the company last year.
"What I've got now, is, I honestly think the best VR demo probably the world has ever seen," Carmack said in the video.
Oculus was recently hit by tragedy when its co-founder Andrew Reisse was killed by a speeding car involved in a police chase.
Representatives for id Software confirmed to CNET that "John has long been interested in the work at Oculus VR and wishes to spend time on that project. The technical leadership he provides for games in development at id Software is unaffected."
Update 8:30 a.m. PT:The original story has been corrected to clarify that Carmack will stay on at id Software in addition to assuming his new position