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Creator of Duke Nukem, 3D Realms closes its doors
Update (5/10): Former employees of 3D Realms have posted on their blogs some concept art and a video showing some footage of what appears to be Duke Nukem Forever. If you haven't had your dose of vaporware already, the word now is that a new willing developer will have to pick up the game where 3D Realms left off, in order for the project to see the light.
The rumor that developer 3D Realms along with the recently resurrected Apogee name, had been shut down first broke over at Shacknews yesterday. After a series of updates, a confirmation of the developer’s demise was released by staff member Joe Siegler on the 3D Realms forum. Joe was the voice of Duke Nukem II's gruff star as well as the company’s webmaster and forum moderator. The closure comes as a shock to fans and employees alike, and is cited to be the result of funding issues. Employees have already been let go.
Apogee Software and Deep Silver have stated that despite the unfortunate and sudden turn of events, Frontline Games’ upcoming handheld Duke Nukem Trilogy is unaffected. Take-Two Interactive, the slated publisher for Duke Nukem Forever, has released a statement saying that its arrangement with the studio did not include ongoing funds for development. Additionally, they claim to still have a hold on the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever.
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User Comments (20)
Post a comment| yukka on May 7, 2009 10:30 AM | Well I never believed we would see Duke Nukem Forever - to
make a game with that much condensed detail is difficult
with 3D as we know it now. 12 years is an insane amount of
time to develop any title but to see the company go down
before its completed is a sad state of affairs. At least they could accidentally leak a few of the alphas they must have in the storerooms 
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| captain828 on May 7, 2009 11:58 AM | Also not surprised to see them go bankrupt... they haven't
gotten anything out their door for 12 years!! I'm not cheering thought, as probably we will see a "Duke Nukem Forever" in the end, but I doubt it will be the one they've been developing for so much time.
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| hamsteyr on May 7, 2009 12:09 PM | Forever we have waited, and now forever it will not bear its
face. Though it does say that Take Two interactive has the
rights to Duke Nukem, i think if they were to bring back
duke nukem, ditch the forever name. We're all sick of seeing
forever >.>
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| MrAnderson on May 7, 2009 3:37 PM | Doesn't Wolfenstein 3D belong to id Software. It might have
been published by Apogee..cannot remember that far back.
But I'm sure Carmac's company created
Wolfenstein... 3D Realms more resent involvement with the Title Prey is also germane. It is sad that Duke Nukem goes down. It has taken so long to produce a working title that it seems to be the most lengendary vaporware of all time. I wonder if there is even any Developer/Publisher who would want to touch this IP (although popular - but with a history that can make a failured release turn sour). Should it should fade into the background after all.
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| Matthew on May 7, 2009 3:40 PM | Originally posted by captain828: Also not
surprised to see them go bankrupt... they haven't gotten
anything out their door for 12 years!! "The final
game released by 3D Realms was Prey, a game released on July
11, 2006..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_realmsI'm not cheering thought, as probably we will see a "Duke Nukem Forever" in the end, but I doubt it will be the one they've been developing for so much time. E ither way, yeah - they've been relatively inactive in the last chunk of history. *Edit* Haha, MrAnderson you got to Prey first . Thank you for netting
the error concerning Wolfenstein 3D. That'll be the last
time I type based on memory (I worked on the FPS article
back in January). It has been modified.[Edited by Matthew on 2009-05-07 15:47:18]
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| skitzo_zac on May 7, 2009 4:54 PM | I want to play DNF 
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| Tekkaraiden on May 7, 2009 6:01 PM | Wow they only produced Prey, they didn't develop it. They
haven't developed a completed game since 1997.
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| 9Nails on May 7, 2009 6:59 PM | That sucks.
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| Matthew on May 7, 2009 7:27 PM | Originally posted by Tekkaraiden: Wow they
only produced Prey, they didn't develop it. They haven't
developed a completed game since 1997. ...Which I
would have noticed had I bothered to click the link on Wiki,
heh. Good call.Any predictions on whether Duke Nukem Forever will be picked up by another studio? Is that even possible?
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| Julio on May 7, 2009 8:02 PM | It's a shame though I would love to know if DNF was
vaporware all the way, or when it was really dropped or if
there are any playable pieces of it left.
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| i3rucei3ruce on May 7, 2009 10:22 PM | I read PCG a lot, and I remember when there was a brief
surge of info around 2007/early 2008 on DNF. There was this
one story of this guy who had pre-ordered the title at a
GameStop, before it was called GameStop. He had a picture of
the stub for the pre-order, and claimed he had kept it in
his wallet for the past 11 years. PCG said that they would
refund the money he had paid in the event DNF is never
released and what is now called GameStop refuses to honor
his stub. I can't believe that incredible story is coming to
frution.
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| gingerbill on May 7, 2009 11:37 PM | i suppose it's not surprising , how mental must they be to
take that long making a game till they eventually go
bankrupt , sounds stupid.
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| captain828 on May 8, 2009 12:43 AM | Originally posted by
Matthew: Originally posted by
Tekkaraiden: I believe Take-Two has rights over the DNF
moniker.Wow they only produced Prey,
they didn't develop it. They haven't developed a completed
game since 1997. ...Which I would have noticed had I
bothered to click the link on Wiki, heh. Good
call.Any predictions on whether Duke Nukem Forever will be picked up by another studio? Is that even possible? Come to think of it, DNF stands for Did Not Finish in racing. Regarding Prey, they statistically just published it, but this little snippet tells the truth: The final game released by 3D
Realms was Prey, a game released on July 11, 2006 after
being stuck in development hell for eleven years. Prey was
originally developed internally by 3D Realms, but after
several years of delays, the company paid Humanhead Studios
to develop the game. [Edited by captain828 on
2009-05-08 00:48:35]
|
| Per Hansson on May 10, 2009 7:58 AM | I'm so sorry to hear of this news, for the people working at
3DRealms that now loose their jobs I was 13 when Duke Nukem 3D came out, I played it more than any other game I've owned since. Now I'm 26 so I've waited half my life for Duke Nukem Forever Very sad to see it not getting released, especially keeping the recent screenshots and videos of it in mind There was actually a new video leaked today, made originally by Bryan Brewer at 3DRealms, it really shows how far they have come and how fun this game seems to be Here is hoping that Duke Nukem Forever will still get completed and released in some form, would be a real shame to just let all that work be for nothing!
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| Julio on May 10, 2009 1:38 PM | I have updated this story with links for the released
concept art and embedded the video footage released by
former 3D Realms employees.
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| Julio on May 11, 2009 12:07 AM | More concept art
shots: [link]
|
| captain828 on May 11, 2009 3:14 AM | Is it me or the game looks mega cool??
|
| ElShotte on May 11, 2009 9:12 AM | The game does look good. It wouldn't be a stupid move for
any company to buy the game as is so far and finish it. It
seems as if 3D Realms made a very wrong business decision
when they severed their ties with iD after the release of
Doom, they were doing quite well before that. Also, they
should have concentrated their resources more on finishing
Duke Nukem Forever instead of starting Prey since that would
most likely net them in a good amount of income thus
possibly preventing their closing.
|
| MrAnderson on May 11, 2009 1:41 PM | Originally posted by
Matthew: Originally posted by
captain828: Yeah, well, I
only knew because I am a fan of the old school developers.
I have a lot of respect for them because they still maintain
a level of garage style development in an industry where
many will struggle to keep their doors open.Also not surprised to see them go
bankrupt... they haven't gotten anything out their door for
12 years!! "The final game released by 3D Realms was
Prey, a game released on July 11, 2006..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3d_realmsI'm not cheering thought, as probably we will see a "Duke Nukem Forever" in the end, but I doubt it will be the one they've been developing for so much time. E ither way, yeah - they've been relatively inactive in the last chunk of history. *Edit* Haha, MrAnderson you got to Prey first . Thank you for netting
the error concerning Wolfenstein 3D. That'll be the last
time I type based on memory (I worked on the FPS article
back in January). It has been modified.[Edited by Matthew on 2009-05-07 15:47:18] Also, since I re-read my copy of the Masters of Doom at the end of 2008 =) -Cheers
|
| tmservo on May 11, 2009 4:06 PM | So, how long until investors sue because they've been
defrauded?
|
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