And so the saga finally comes to a close: 3D Realms, developer of infamous vapourware sequel Duke Nukem Forever, has closed its doors.
The closure, first discovered by Shacknews last night, came about as a result of funding issues. 3D Realms staffer Joe Siegler confirmed the news in a forum post, saying: "It's not a marketing thing. It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time."
The closure brings Duke Nukem Forever's 12-year development stretch, most recently marked with a teaser trailer last year to a close.
3D Realms publisher Take-Two said in a statement that it was not funding ongoing development of 'Forever.
"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 addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever."
Founded in 1987 by Scott Miller and George Broussard, 3D Realms was best known for its shooters, including PC and 360 portal-hopper Prey, of which a sequel was announced (and presumably now canned).
Duke Nukem Trilogy duo Apogee Software and Deep Silver have since piped in to confirm that their PSP retro game's development is unaffected, which is a little bit of good news for Duke fans at least.
"Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned" they said.
On the one hand at least now some sense of closure can be established barring another developer taking over the DNF project. Yet at the same time, despite the criticisms and disparaging comments over the years, I suspect a great many of us will feel melancholy that our predictions finally came true while a ray of hope was secretly harboured in the back of our minds that someday DNF would see the light of day.
I'm not going to make any predictions as to whether or not DNF is picked up by another company, but if a 10 year old and all but dead franchise such as Fallout can get a shot in the arm and take the gaming world by storm then why not a resurrected DNF? Idle speculation for the time being; in the meantime the current reality on the ground is that DNF is dead and buried. It's been fun and some of the greatest (and most absurd,) gaming moments for me come from that great muscle-bound, blonde, cigar smoking, stripper supporting, alien crushing Duke Nukem! Salute!
Im afrad to say serves them right!!!!! They had very few games out and non that could keep the money rolling in!!! This should be a leasion for all devs out there DONT take the p**s when making a game, yes the dev of a game is a long prosses but it should never take over 10 years honestly!!!!
Shame, but they really did have it coming. I'm all for developers spending extra time to get a game right but effectively 3d Realms would have been better off having paid the Duke Nukem team for 10 years holiday. They would have saved a lot of money on development kit, rent, bills etc.
I always thought the original Duke made Doom look crap and I really enjoyed Prey but there comes a point when you have to say enough is enough.
I know a lot of people say "Yeah but this time it's coming soon", I remember the store I was working at recieving a video DVD of in game footage of 3D Realms up and coming big games, one was the (even then) long awaited Duke Nukem Forever the other was a new title called Max Payne.
Since then we've had the release of Max Payne, an excellent sequel and a s**t film. We've even had the long delayed Alan Wake saga rumbling on in the back ground.
The Kotaku article has had updates, and says that Take Two have responded saying that while the developer may have closed up, the game hasn't necessarily been scrapped.
So they'll hopefully hand it to someone who can finish it. Before Judgement Day.
Well, maybe this will be the best thing to ever have hapenned to the game. Give the development to someone else and let them have a crack at completing the it... or is that starting the game? I really can't tell, we have seen virtually nothing of the game.
This could be a blessing in disguise for DNF. 3D Realms have after all, been monumentally taking the p**s with Duke Nukem Forever.
But maybe it should just be left to rest. I saw this coming a long time ago. I do have my misgivings about it. Maybe it was never meant to be.
I'm sad to see 3D Realms go under, I thought prey was a solid fps that never did as well as it should have but, like a few people have said, they can have no one to blame but themselves unfortunately, I mean 12 years and still no DNF?, they make Square Enix look like premature ejaculators .
This is not the last you've heard of Duke Nukem forever. Right now 3D Realms will be trying to sell off any assets it has and the Duke Nukem property Has a huge following and would be a substantial oppertunity for many other development companys. How often does a name as Big as the duke go on the market along with all the development that's already been done on it, and a huge existing fan base rabid for a final product at what will almost certainly be a bargain price ? It wouldn't surprise me at all if we hear "Duke Nukem property bought by ~insert company name here~" in the next few weeks if not days. It's not over yet.
Bioware no but if 'Epic' went bust, would we relly care? They are one of the most overrated and sh***est devs around.
As for this, well come on, if you take over ten years to 'make' a game, you're bound to be just funnelling your money into a bottomless hole. I wonder what was really going on if the game ever was in development...
But you're right, what do they expect. All they have to show for the past 12 years is Prey. You can't expect to stay afloat when you only release one averagely-received game in over a decade.
3D Realms could have shut years ago on the Q.T. and nobody would have noticed. In fact had this not been news, we probably wouldn't know. They didn't do enough to be a well known developer.
But you're right, what do they expect. All they have to show for the past 12 years is Prey. You can't expect to stay afloat when you only release one averagely-received game in over a decade.
3D Realms could have shut years ago on the Q.T. and nobody would have noticed. In fact had this not been news, we probably wouldn't know. They didn't do enough to be a well known developer.
Yep, agreed. Did they give any reasons over the years as to why the game was continually delayed?, I still can't fully get my head round it, TWELVE YEARS and they couldn't get it out???.
Well it couldn't last forever I suppose! Haha get it? Forever...? Oh you did get it...oh...
Even from a purely voyeuristic perspective, I'd love to see just how much of DNF was completed and how much its changed over the past decade.
I've always loved the mystery surrounding vapourware titles; what goes on behind the scenes to cause hotly anticipated games to go through such ceasless reiteration; over a length of time they must know is going too far? There's almost certainly internal tension within the development team, and maybe with the publisher too. Or maybe they just can't spark the chemistry to make great things happen?
I'm sure one day the story will come out, and I for one am certainly looking forward to hearing it.
Hardly Suprising is it? Unless they were going to release the video game equivelent of Jesus, it was always going to be rent asunder by the gaming world, therefore probably best to just draw a line under it now.
Look at Too Human. I appreicate that some people tried to be nice about it like when someone is nice to someone who tried their best but failed miserably, but deep down the majority knew the game was not up to scratch in todays world.
(don't want a discussion about Too Human btw, It's only an opinion...)
Wouldn't it be wonderful if by some bizarre means all of the source, assets, etc got released into the community for fans to finish? Of course, I doubt it'd happen since there's so much money (and a little time ) been invested in this game.
I was never a massive fan of Duke, but enjoyed the games well enough to hope to play DNF one day before I died.
But you're right, what do they expect. All they have to show for the past 12 years is Prey. You can't expect to stay afloat when you only release one averagely-received game in over a decade.
3D Realms could have shut years ago on the Q.T. and nobody would have noticed. In fact had this not been news, we probably wouldn't know. They didn't do enough to be a well known developer.
Not anymore, true, but it wasn't always thus. In the early to late 90's 3D Realms was one of the big PC gaming names as I recall it.
There was an article in GamesTM a few months back detailing some of the shocking tactics employed by computer game companies. One included a man who was kidnapped from his home to be taken back to work after he'd left after a 20 hour day or something stupid. It actually resulted in criminal charges being brought against his employers.
Mappman: check the link I just provided. Of course, that's just what one ex 3DR guy has to say, but if it's true it's pretty shocking.
Wow. That's really scary. I can't help feel that its true, because firstly it seems such a detailed account.
Secondly I know someone who used to work for the now defunct developer DiD, whilst they were developing some Eurofighter sim. I remember the ridiculous hours he had to spend at work (day-long shifts and literally camping in the office), as well as the shenanigans surrounding the buy-out by Infogrames.
Since then, I've heard/read many other stories which suggest that the games industry isn't a particularly pleasant place to work. So this story, no matter how crazy it may seem, is perfectly plausible to me.
I just read the story posted in the link above. I have to say, if everything that is stated in that story is true, then I can't help feel satisfied that it all blew up in there smug self satisfied know it all faces. The were trying to play the gaming public for years. Dicks!
Unfortunately it won't just be them who pay for it.
I've heard about the, sometimes, ridiculous working conditions that game makers have to put up with but physical abuse and threats are something else.
Then there's the hard work many people have put into the actual game. Only to be held back by the business end of things. I know it's a Duke Nukem game but there's an argument that this is art and now it may never be enjoyed.
Will anybody feel guilty about downloading a leaked version of it, if these stories are true?
holy sh**t just did some research on that guy who submitted that linked article check this out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wiederhold guess hes not lieng
The article on that blog was incredibly shocking. I sort of knew that working conditions were terrible in the industry but I had no idea that things like this went on there. If things are this bad maybe game developers should unionize?
The article on that blog was incredibly shocking. I sort of knew that working conditions were terrible in the industry but I had no idea that things like this went on there. If things are this bad maybe game developers should unionize?
Aye. If true then the treatment Wieder endured was nothing short of criminal. While it's easy to say he should have held out, I find it hard to fault his implied decision given the circumstances...I think everyone in that trailer, if the story is true that is, should be very thankful no one had brought a firearm with them that day. I know that I would be willing to use it to "defuse" the described situation (note: using a firearm doesn't have to mean shooting someone, although that is certainly a possibility).
I too have heard of beyond lousy working conditions for various game developers and it rubs me the wrong way to hear some of the horror stories. Deadlines, market pressure, profits, etc. are not concepts unique to that particular business and treating the personnel as sort of slaves is unequivocally unacceptable!
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