At the end of last week Oculus founder Palmer Luckey was on the receiving end of some strong criticism after it was discovered that he had funded a campaign of anti-Hillary Clinton memes aimed at supporting her political rival, Donald Trump, the Republican candidate in the upcoming American election.
Luckey was also outed as the Reddit contributor using the monicker NimbleRichMan (a claim which we denies), and this along with the Nimble America link has led to several developers who had previously supported the company distancing themselves from the Oculus Rift.
This weekend Luckey intervened via an apology of sorts, explaining that he was sorry for the impact of his actions on the perception of Oculus, stating that his political ideologies don't reflect those of the Facebook-owned company and its employees. He also explained his position regarding the meme-making company in question, Nimble America:
"I am deeply sorry that my actions are negatively impacting the perception of Oculus and its partners. The recent news stories about me do not accurately represent my views.
Here's more background: I contributed $10,000 to Nimble America because I thought the organization had fresh ideas on how to communicate with young voters through the use of several billboards. I am a libertarian who has publicly supported Ron Paul and Gary Johnson in the past, and I plan on voting for Gary in this election as well.
I am committed to the principles of fair play and equal treatment. I did not write the "NimbleRichMan" posts, nor did I delete the account.
Reports that I am a founder or employee of Nimble America are false. I don't have any plans to donate beyond what I have already given to Nimble America.
Still, my actions were my own and do not represent Oculus. I'm sorry for the impact my actions are having on the community."
However, the plot thickens, and as reported by Motherboard, one of the reporters from The Daily Beast who broke the story, Gideon Resnick, has shared emails that seem to show Luckey confirming that he did write the NimbleRichMan posts on Reddit.
It's hard to gauge how genuine these claims and counter-claims are, or even whether Luckey is telling the whole truth. Will his apology bring uncertain developers back into the fold, or will the uncertainty continue until the full facts are heard?