Last week, Developer 3D Realms announced that it was shutting its doors after having spent the past 12 years working on Duke Nukem Forever.
The fate of Duke Nukem Forever seems intrinsically linked to the fate of 3D Realms, leading many to believe that the game would never see the light of day. A few days after the studio closing, gameplay footage as well as artwork surfaced. This lead to speculation as to how close the game actually was to completion, and what chance there actually was of it still being released.
Publisher Take-Two owns the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever after paying $12million (R120 million) for the privilege back in 2000. Shortly after the footage surfaced, and thousands of fans expressed their disappointment that the game would not be released after so much time in development, Take-Two reportedly offered 3D Realms $30million (R257million) for all current Duke Nukem Forever development content. This would allow the publisher to hire another developer to finish the game for release.
3D Realms co-owner George Broussard rejected the offer, stating that he wants to finish the project with his own team. Broussard had apparently been trying to secure additional financial backing from id Software, Microsoft, EA and Epic. Take-Two pointed out that even if 3D Realms does manage to secure funding, Take-Two will still retain the publishing rights.
Take-Two and 3D Realms have apparently been on bad terms for a few years now. In 2007, Broussard famously declared that 3D Realms is funding the project independently and that “Take Two needs to STFU imo.”
In light of this, it is hardly surprising that Take-Two is taking legal action. The publisher is suing what remains of 3D Realms/Apogee Ltd for not delivering the title before shutting down.
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