John Carmack getting BAFTA’s highest honour

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts – BAFTA – has announced it will be handing this year’s Fellowship award to none other than John Carmack.

This means the man behind Doom, Quake and now Oculus Rift (as well as some rockets on the side) will be honoured with the Academy’s highest honour, which is awarded “in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, television or games”.

Carmack will receive his one-eyed face trophy thing – and I’d expect a hell of an ovation – at the British Academy Games Awards, taking place April 7 at the Tobacco Dock, London.

Carmack commented thusly on the award:

“Receiving a BAFTA Fellowship is a great honour. Over the course of my career, I’ve remained passionate about the potential for engineering and technology improvements to expand the range of human creativity. Graphics, networking, extendable platforms, and now virtual reality; each has enabled magnificent new things that delight millions of people. I am as excited about the future today as I was when I started.”

Hopefully he’ll give a Quakecon-style keynote at the BAFTAs, discussing all manner of ludicrously interesting concepts for a couple of hours. A man can dream…