Oculus founder Palmer Luckey hit back at some of his most vocal critics on Reddit early Tuesday morning, calling one of them "an insufferable fanboy."
Luckey and his Facebook-owned company have been accused of botching the launch of the Oculus Rift, a VR headset that went on sale in January.
The devices sold out quickly online. Customers among the first to pre-order have been reporting months-long shipment delays. And Oculus has said it ramped up manufacturing to keep up with demand but has also been set back by a component shortage.
Through it all, customers have felt that Oculus and Luckey have done a poor job of communicating and setting realistic expectations. Not a shy bunch, they've taken to Twitter (TWTR) and Reddit to voice their discontent.
But Luckey hasn't backed down either. Tensions reached a new boiling point Monday after he tweeted that he "much prefer shortages to the opposite problem!"
The statement gave birth to a huge Reddit thread where one person laid out more than a dozen grievances against Luckey.
Going by the name randomawesome, the Reddit user quoted and linked to some of Luckey's past comments to call out inconsistencies.
"Remember 'if something's even $600, it doesn't matter how good it is, how great of an experience it is -- if they just can't afford it, then it really might as well not exist.'?" randomawesome said in one of his bullet points.
Luckey lashed out in return.
"The same people who complain about 'lack of transparency' and 'sterile, corporate communication' are so very often the same people who berate and hate companies and individuals for anything they ever say that changes at some point," Luckey wrote.
Companies prefer to keep people in the dark because "they know a vocal minority of people is going to latch on to anything they say or have said and use it to s--- on them, and they let it control them," he went on to explain.
"Does s--- change sometimes? Of course it does. Does that mean I am going to stop speaking my mind because people throw out of context words in my face years later? No, not really," Luckey wrote.
Spokesmen for Oculus and Facebook (FB) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Related: eBay sellers hike Oculus Rift price by $1,200
Although some people stood up for Luckey online, many still felt that his posts were missing the larger point.
"So what Palmer is saying, is to not take anything that he says at face value," one Reddit user responded. "It seems untrustworthy to me when someone is putting in present day disclaimers in their future claims."
"I know what I'll do," another mocked. "I'll insult this person that's standing up for my product. Yeah good job palmer. You absolute tool of a human."
For industry analyst J.P. Gownder, Luckey's latest comments are another example of making the situation worse.
"Palmer Luckey continues to put his foot into his mouth," Gownder told CNNMoney. "Another faux pas for certain!"
