Good to hear that the jury made the right decision on the ridiculous charges against Carmack. Sad to hear that they think a bunch of litigious assholes deserve $500 million for getting a signature on an NDA.
They wouldn't even have the slimy case that they have, if not for the fact that Carmack and others used to work there. People can debate the legal technicalities all they want, but the plain, everyday explanation of what happened is that some lawyers figured out how to retroactively create and profit massively from a virtual non-compete that never existed.
Wait, so if the guy actually abided by the contract he AGREED to, you know as a trustworthy reliable integritable individual, then Zenimax would have the first mover advantage and market lead on this burgeoning market. In this parallel reality that has nothing to do with their ability to execute.
They were deprived of that, in actual violation of an actual contract, and you find this aggregate decision of a jury sad?
You are kidding right?
Typically NDA's stipulate damages and punitive damages, as trade secrets are protected in the United States. The punitive damages are intended to deter someone from doing the same action again. Damages are calculated by extrapolating market value of secrets disclosed.
To show you just how much Zenimax cares, go and try to buy DooM VR for any platform.
Bullshit. Zenimax leadership wanted nothing to do with this market! First mover advantage is the opposite of how they work as a company. If it was up to them they would have had Carmack work on something less risky like the 10th installment in one of their IPs, and nothing would have happened.