3D Realms Closing – The Duke Is Dead. Long Live The Duke.
By Steve on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 3:59 PM PST In Computer, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Games
With rumors circulating around the web the past 24 hours regarding Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms shutting down, the guys over at Shacknews have found the proverbial nail in the coffin in the form of confirmation from a reliable source at 3D Realms. Shacknews reports:
3D Realms webmaster Joe Siegler has commented on the shut down, stating: “It’s not a marketing thing. It’s true. I have nothing further to say at this time.”
Shacknews also obtained Duke Nukem Forever’s publisher Take-Two’s stance on 3D Realms failure at producing the game:
“We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title,” said Take-Two VP of communications Alan Lewis in a prepared statement. “In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever,” he added.
While this news is bleak, Apogee Software and Deepsilver want fans to know that Duke is far from dead. You can see what they had to say after the break.
“Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms,” a representative for the companies told us. “Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned.”
It appears that, quite simply, money ran out for development of Duke Nukem Forever. For a project that has been ongoing for over a decade, it is not surprising to see money woes becoming the falling hammer.
For the employees over at 3D Realms, I really feel for them right now (as I know first hand what it is like to be unemployed during a recession). While it was fun to poke humor at them whilst employed, not so much now (”beating a dead horse” comes to mind). I can only imagine the ego bruising George Broussard must be having right now (we still love you, George!). There is still a small glimmer of hope that the project could be resurrected down the road. After all, “forever” is such a strong word (and Duke could kick its ass still).
Rest assured, the Duke Nukem legacy is anything but dead. But it certainly seems that the Duke Nukem Forever game is, for all practical purposes, deceased.
Whee. Responding to my own news post, silly much?
Found some unconfirmed post from a 3D Realms programmer that the project isn’t dead. I’d take it with a grain of salt though:
http://www.reddit.com/user/DukenukemForeverXX/
The question is, should they just let it die?
Let’s hope they release something at least… an SDK or similar =P
It should be fun to play with that.
But anyways, it’s a sad loss, but time moves on.
This is sad, but I think Forever should be released, and stop there. RIP 3D Realms
It’s funny, but deep down inside I kinda already felt like this game would never see the light of day. No matter how long it took.
Isn’t this the reining joke of the video game world anyway? Something will change and it will come to life again I’m sure…Go Marlins!!!!
Come on, updating Duke Nukem as a modern day hero wasn’t exactly as extreme a make over as turning Adam West’s Batman into today’s Dark Knight. However that was a fairly gradual process and this is a radical sudden update. I was never convinced that the Duke could make the leap between eighties action hero, albeit a parody of one, to the flawed anti-hero popular today intact.
“It’s done when it’s done” — haha, they’re done first. Good ridance I say.
No surprise here.