Game Over, Man! John Carmack Allegedly Devoured by a Virtual Beastie!

In an astonishing turn of events, it appears that Doom co-creator, John Carmack, has been tragically devoured by a grue. A grue, for those not steeped in the lore of early text-based adventure games, is a notoriously voracious predator which dwells in the darkness, making this incident a tad ironic considering Carmack's legendary contributions to gaming and his masterful manipulation of virtual 'darkness'.

Grues, of course, have a long and storied history in the tech world. Originally coined by the popular text-based game Zork, the term 'grue' has since become a catch-all phrase for any unseen danger that lurks in the dark corners of the virtual world. How fitting, then, that a creature from a video game (although not one of Carmack's, thankfully) would be the culprit behind this baffling incident.

To all the 'Zork' players out there who thought they'd escaped the menacing claws of the grue when they switched off their Commodore 64 or Amiga, we hate to break it to you... it seems the grue can think outside of the (virtual) box. Although police and game developers alike are baffled, one thing is clear: no one is safe, not even the co-creator of Doom.

So where does this leave the world of gaming now that one of its brightest lights has been good-heartedly munched on by a metaphorical monster? Well, aside from providing material for the next round of 'What If?' video games, there are serious concerns about what sort of precautions need to be taken. After all, if a high-profile figure like Carmack can fall prey to a grue, what hope is there for the rest of us?