Duke Nukem Forever

[Patticus]

Duke Nukem Developer 3D Realms Shuts Down

A very reliable source close to Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms today confirmed to Shacknews that the company has been shut down.

The closure came about as a result of funding issues, our source explained, with the shut down said to affect both 3D Realms and the recently resurrected Apogee name. Employees of both entities have already been let go.

Phone calls and e-mails to various 3D Realms veterans have thus far gone unanswered, with publishing partner Take-Two likewise unavailable for comment.

3D Realms was founded in 1987 by Scott Miller and George Broussard. The studio had infamously been working on Duke Nukem Forever over the past 13 years.

A final push to release Duke Nukem Forever began in 2007, marked by a short teaser starring the in-game hero that was released late that year.

As recent as January 2009, company steward George Broussard wrote on his Twitter feed that he was visiting Take-Two to show off the title.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/58519

Shocking! Duke Nukem Forever was finally "almost ready" too, going by the rumblings from the past couple of years. It kinda makes sense though, this closure, if it's happening, because really... what have they been doing all this time? Wasting money, by the sound of things.

[Blacklightning]

Well crap, here I thought DNF was actually going to release sometime soon. There go my hopes.

I wouldn't want Duke Nukem to die out because of this though. Too good a franchise to leave to waste.

[Patticus]

Anyone looking forward to the Duke Nukem Trilogy games who thought they might have been caught in 3D Realms' dying blast radius, fear not...

Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p...p;postcount=166

[Tornado]

Call me skeptical, but I won't buy it until Broussard says something.

[Chris]

I find it kind of surprising that just a few months ago they were so confident about Duke Nukem Forever - could they really have spent that much money since then? Closures like these need to be scheduled months in advance..

[Sean]

Anyone looking forward to the Duke Nukem Trilogy games who thought they might have been caught in 3D Realms' dying blast radius, fear not...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p...p;postcount=166

Oh. And here I was almost sorta hoping that 3D Realms' demise would have had rights to Commander Keen returned to Tom Hall, who would have immediately proceeded with development on the long-awaited The Universe is Toast! trilogy that Hall and Keen fans have hoped for for so long - or at least some kind of Keen game that isn't the 2000 GBC title.

I'm so selfish.

[Urtheart]

Call me skeptical, but I won't buy it until Broussard says something.

You might have some trouble on that one, seems 3D realms' site is down.

Although news travels fast on the net I suppose.

[Flint]

It's been confirmed, a staffer clarified itin the 3D Realms forums.

2K still has publishing rights for DNF though so either they release it as it is or give it to another dev studio.

This is really sad though. I know a lot of you only think of 3D Realms as a joke because of Duke Nukem Forever but let's remember their glory days when they, under the name Apogee, practically dominated the platformer business (on PC, sod your silly little ye olde Marios and whatnot) with shitloads of quality. Commander Keens, Crystal Caves, Secret Agent, Cosmo, Biomenace, the original Duke Nukem games, Monster Bash, and countless others. Then they revolutionized the FPS genre with Duke Nukem 3D - many only remember the macho main hero and his jokes but forget the amazing level, weapon and item design that still feel fresh these days because not many games have copied things like Holoduke and Shrink Gun, and (back then) innovative gaming mechanics like jumping and crouching.

RIP.

Edited May 7, 2009 by Flint

[BaronSFel001]

Holy crap, I do not think anyone saw this coming! Though I want details from both Miller and Broussard before I fully accept this. Considering what they have contributed to computer gaming (and they have contributed much more than most realize), this is a terrible tragedy.

As a consolation, everything that Apogee/3D Realms had available to download can still be picked up at classicdosgames.

[TheGerkuman]

Keen, though published by Apogee, was created by iD. In other words, with Apogee open, you can still buy Keen from them (or from Steam) but you won't get a new Keen until iD decides to make one, or they give the rights to Tom Hall.

[Sean]

Pft, I just found all of the games on some site. I'd buy a compilation (with bonus features) if it was released on retail though.

[7Force]

While its sad to see 3D Realems go under I dont really give a toss about Duke Nukem Forever, i've waited so long for it i've just lost interest in the thing.

[Stacy]

While its sad to see 3D Realems go under I dont really give a toss about Duke Nukem Forever, i've waited so long for it i've just lost interest in the thing.

Aye, there was that epic trailer back in 2001(2) and then nothing for ages, is it me but I don't even think the company developed a full game just kept everyone guessing, like a big fucking epic hoax (the title said it all) to be honest.

If Duke Nukem continues being made by a different company then I am fine with that, but I hope the voice actor for Duke stays the same or it would suck ass if it didn't.

[Badnik Mechanic]

It's not suprising really is it.

For over 13 years they had nothing to show, this time it was no different to all the others, what a few pictures as unlockable content and a brief demo? So what? It's no different from all the other claims and info thats come out over the years...

Lets have a look back...

“We’re confident that DNF will be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, game of 1998. And this confidence is not misplaced.” - Scott Miller, 1997

“Duke Nukem Forever is a 1999 game and we think that timeframe matches very well with what we have planned for the game.” - George Broussard, 1998

“Trust us, Duke Nukem Forever will rock when it comes out next year.” - Joe Siegler, 1999

“When it’s done in 2001.” - 2000 Christmas card

“DNF will come out before Unreal 2.” - George Broussard, 2001

“If DNF is not out in 2001, something’s very wrong.” - George Broussard, 2001

“DNF will come out before Doom 3.” - George Broussard, 2002

What most likely happened is that finally the people supplying the money or whatever money they had was drying up, so they had a big PR push last year with the demos, the screen shots and the interviews in a bid to get extra financial support. It's not worked, and now they're finally dead, and no number of whitty one liners from Duke is going to help them now.

No games developer could work like this, no game could survive the mindless development that Duke Nukem Forever has had. I don't even think that a Metal Gear Solid or a GTA title could survive if it followed the same road as DNF took.

If another developer gets the rights to make it... just release it with a development time thats standard with most games today, or announce it's cancellation and start something new.

[DMNBT]

And that's how everything ends. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.

[SuperLink]

If DNF was vapourware I think it would have gone out more style that this. This is just plain anti-climatic.

It's a real shame, I was hoping for atleast 10 more years of DNF. The day it was released would have really been one to remember, even if loads of people didn't really want the game itself, just to see it released within their lifetimes would be more special than witnessing a total eclipse T-T

[Carbo]

The biggest problem with 3D Realms' financial issues was the fact that they were self-funded. Considering they've been doing nothing but trying to get DNF to work, it might not be so much of a surprise after all.

It's a sad loss though, I didn't expect it to happen in this day and age with DNF being near its closure. Hopefully some company picks it up and finishes it, which kind of gives me hope that we haven't seen last of him. Always bet on The Duke. I doubt any company would mind owning such a legendary icon as Duke.

Well that's what they get for wanking off to World of Warcraft.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Carbo

[Flint]

Some random DNF renders and screenies from the art director.

[188Eternal]

Always bet on The Duke. I doubt any company would mind owning such a legendary icon as Duke.

You might be correct, but you also might be wrong...

I mean, I don't think that ID Software was very happy when they saw how Duke Nukem 3D poked fun of DOOM's spacemarine icon. (Click here to see a screenshot if you don't know what I'm referring to.)

Out of jealousy and vengeance, they might refuse to ever buy the rights for producing Duke games...

Unless they're the type of corporate people who only care about money.

Anyways, personally I have mixed feelings about this.

On one side I feel very sad and sympathetic for George Broussard and Ted Reploggle and Stephen Hornback and all of those dudes over there, because I know exactly what it feels like to have your dreams and ambitions get utterly crushed. I'm wondering what each of them is going to do now to sustain themselves and their families...

Sure, they've got tons of experience and great resumes, but does that really guarantee that they will automatically get the exact same status & positions & salaries at new companies? They're probably going to have to start from ground zero and gradually work their way up the hierarchical pyramid of business all over again. And that's a total pain the ass.

On the other side I feel glad that the future fate of Duke Nukem might fall totally into the hands of the fans... Obsessive people with big imaginations and big ego bubbles, just like me and most of you people here. I mean, as long as geeks have the skill and the determination and the community spirit then they can build any fangame or any add-on of Duke Nukem that they want. Without any fuss about funding and marketing or all of that crap.

As long as there's a devoted community of imaginative and skilled fans, any franchise is guaranteed to become immortal, regardless of how big or how small it is.

[BaronSFel001]

It is still sinking in, but 3D Realms does seem to be legitimately dying. Notice I said that they were dying - they are not dead yet. From what I can tell in their forums, many of their classical properties will survive under the new Apogee Software (yes, apparently Terry Nagy's Apogee outfit will go on, perhaps bringing Scott and George along). The legacy they leave will never go away, no matter what happens (although this does mean that the hardest Apogee game to acquire, aside from Next Generation Trivia which really does not count, is Balls of Steel, which had been out of distribution for several years). They should still get sales and royalties from their classic games and the downloads of their titles from all the third-party sites will still be there. A fair word of warning to all the fellow fans: download and archive what you like quickly before it disappears (for instance, Joe Siegler recently posted scans of all the printed manuals on ftp), since there is no telling how long it will be there.

3D Realms may go, but it has made its mark, and Apogee will still be with us.

[Solid SOAP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n55mUifD8SA

.......

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

WHY DID 3DREALMS HAVE TO GO UNDER FUUUUUCK

that looked so much fun, and the full body detection is really cool too

ripped out alien heads ughhhhhhh

[Carbo]

That footage is pretty amazing. It looks like it's in a somewhat halfway finished state afterall. Take Two still has publishing rights for the ordeal I'd still believe some developer might pick it up.

Also I lol'd at the finger.

And say, football stadium? Isn't that a nostalgic drawback to that one boss in Duke 3D?

[Urtheart]

And 3D realms pretty much confirm it themselves in a sad post called:

Goodbye

As for the footage, it's no where near a finished state, looks like alpha to me, would still be a good year to release.

To a certain extent the old games will always be obtainable some how, while 3D realms status has declined, never let us forget the good times.

[Flint]

That footage is fucking woah.

[Phos]

Footage was pulled...

Is this the same footage?