The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced that it will be awarding a fellowship to John Carmack, co-founder of Id Software and current CTO of Oculus VR, putting him in the same ranks as Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Valve Corp founder Gabe Newell.

Carmack’s work has had a profound impact on game development going back to his early work at Id in the 1990s. As the technical director of Id’s games, Carmack developed the game engines that created some of the most influential games of all time, included Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.

Since leaving Id in 2013, Carmack has served at the CTO of Oculus VR, working on both Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.

“Receiving a BAFTA Fellowship is a great honour,” Carmack said in response to receiving the fellowship. “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.”

The fellowship ceremony itself will take place at the British Academy Games Awards on April 7 in London.

“We are truly honoured to be awarding this year’s Fellowship to the incredibly talented John Carmack,” Harvey Elliot, Chairman of BAFTA’s Games Committee, said in a statement.

“John embodies creativity through all of his work and is a true pioneer in the field of computer engineering. His work in the games industry has spanned more than two decades and the contribution he has made to gaming, from titles such as Commander Keen and Quake to the advocacy and drive he constantly delivers within his work on VR at Oculus, highlights why John is truly deserving of this award.”

Screenshot via Oculus | Twitch