Palmer Luckey is a major part of the latest virtual reality revolution, helping to spearhead the initial development of the Oculus Rift, acting as the face of Oculus as a company for many years and earning hundreds of millions of dollars when Facebook purchased his company in 2014.
However since the release of the first consumer-grade Oculus Rift headset, Luckey hasn't been as popular as he once was. Repeated promises for low prices were forgotten and the Rift launched at a much higher price point than people were expecting. He also fought with people on Reddit infrequently and was ultimately discovered to have provided $100,000 to a Donald Trump meme-group during the elections.
It didn't help much when he was found to be involved in the Zenimax lawsuit, which ultimately cost Facebook $500 million.
Since all of that, Luckey has been quiet, with Facebook unwilling to comment on what he's been up to. A year to the day that the original Oculus Rift was released though, Luckey will be leaving the company.
Facebook hasn't commented on whether this is a firing or Luckey voluntarily leaving, but it seems like it could easily be a bit of both.
"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," a Facebook statement read (via UploadVR).
Image source: EveryDayVR/Flickr