Duke Nukem Never ? 3D Realms Shuts Down

[Hermiod]

Multiple sites such as Joystiq are saying Duke Nukem developer 3D Realms has shut down.

Published Take Two Interactive retain the publishing rights, and could possibly move the title to a different developer, but they did not fund the game.

For the uninitiated, Duke Nukem Forever is/was possibly the greatest example of vapourware in the history of software, let alone video games. Intended as a sequel to 1996's Duke Nukem 3D, it was announced in 1997 with a trailer that, for the time, looked very good.

The game was intended to use the Quake II engine but then switched to using the Unreal engine (this is not a trivial matter and would most likely involve redoing a lot of the work that had already been done from scratch). The game routinely switched engines and technologies after that as the developers struggled to keep pace with ever advancing PC video game technology.

There had been a recent flurry of new screenshots and suggestions that the game may very well be nearly ready for launch.

 

[Rii]

"The developer was reportedly forced to cease operations due to funding issues."

No, really?

I still have the 2001 E3 trailer floating around here somewhere, one of the best I've seen.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

^^ They found that in this weakened economy that people were even less willing than normal to buy nothing. Industry insiders expect the shutdown will take between 5-7 years to complete.

 

[Ryan]

They found that in this weakened economy that people were even less willing than normal to buy nothing. Industry insiders expect the shutdown will take between 5-7 years to complete.

Seriously, how does 3D Realms piss away one of the most popular IPs of the 90s by not publishing a sequel to it?

The window of opportunity for a Duke sequel has probably passed anyway. All the kid gamers have grown up into adults and the moral crusaders have made sure it's difficult to publish that kind of content.

 

[Icemizer]

Duke Nukem needs a rebirth!! One of my favorite games when I was younger and a game that with a serious update(think Dead Space with strippers) would be a huge seller.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It's a real shame because I drooled over that trailer for years. Assuming that there wasn't just doctored up I would have loved to play it had they released it at that tech level.

The No One Lives Forever games weren't really cutting edge but how many games give you this?:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny2scpc_N5w

 

[bigdaddy]

Did anyone really think this game was ever going to come out?

 

[Ryan]

Did anyone really think this game was ever going to come out?

It's like Bigfoot: some people claim to have seen it but no one believes it exists.

 

[Hermiod]

I don't believe BigFoot exists either.

 

[Timby]

Boston Red Sox win the World Series ... twice: Check.
Black man becomes President of the United States of America: Check.
Guns 'n Roses finally releases Chinese Democracy: Check.
Duke Nukem Forever comes out: ...

Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. We have successfully averted the end of the world.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I think the window had closed on Duke for a successful sequel anyway. Its no-holds-barred style, which seemed so groundbreaking at the time, long ago became a standard for shooters, and it's hard to imagine how a sequel would have much new to offer other than a simple nostalgia trip.

Don't get me wrong, I'll line up to buy DNF if it ever comes out. But I just have a hard time seeing it has a huge hit.

 

[John Clark]

I wish I could say I was surprised

Shame really, because the Duke games were generally a laugh.

 

[FordSVT]

I think the window had closed on Duke for a successful sequel anyway. Its no-holds-barred style, which seemed so groundbreaking at the time, long ago became a standard for shooters, and it's hard to imagine how a sequel would have much new to offer other than a simple nostalgia trip.

Don't get me wrong, I'll line up to buy DNF if it ever comes out. But I just have a hard time seeing it has a huge hit.

The Duke games were released at the height of the Doom/Quake craze and it was one of the few franchises to stand out with its over the top violence and immature humour and sex. Unfortunately, over the top violence and immature humour and sex are all over the video game world now, and I'm sure part of 3D Realm's problem was how to make a sequel that would still stand out and not come off as a lame parody of itself.

 

[Dar70]

Thank god. I was getting tired of 3dReals lame respond "when its done" mantra, everytime they were asked when the game was coming out. Maybe if a game is a year late that kind of response works, but to continue using that chant for 12 years is ridiculous. Good riddance to 3drealms.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Did anyone really think this game was ever going to come out?

Team Fortress 2 was in development for 9 years before it came out (and actually still is in development, with 2-3 patches released each month and free major content updates several times a year), so I figured it could of come out, but then again Valve released several other games in those nine years which sold extremely well.

 

[Rii]

Thank god. I was getting tired of 3dReals lame respond "when its done" mantra, everytime they were asked when the game was coming out. Maybe if a game is a year late that kind of response works, but to continue using that chant for 12 years is ridiculous. Good riddance to 3drealms.

I've no particular compassion for 3D Realms, or concern regarding the fate of DNF, but I don't think they "deserved" to fall so that I could save on reading a paragraph or two about the game every six months or so.

 

[bigdaddy]

Boston Red Sox win the World Series ... twice: Check.
Black man becomes President of the United States of America: Check.
Guns 'n Roses finally releases Chinese Democracy: Check.
Duke Nukem Forever comes out: ...

Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. We have successfully averted the end of the world.

I love it!

 

[Rincewiend]

I think the window had closed on Duke for a successful sequel anyway. Its no-holds-barred style, which seemed so groundbreaking at the time, long ago became a standard for shooters, and it's hard to imagine how a sequel would have much new to offer other than a simple nostalgia trip.

Don't get me wrong, I'll line up to buy DNF if it ever comes out. But I just have a hard time seeing it has a huge hit.

The Duke games were released at the height of the Doom/Quake craze and it was one of the few franchises to stand out with its over the top violence and immature humour and sex. Unfortunately, over the top violence and immature humour and sex are all over the video game world now, and I'm sure part of 3D Realm's problem was how to make a sequel that would still stand out and not come off as a lame parody of itself.

Meh, they already got beaten by Croteam with the 2 Serious Sam games...

 

[NCC1701]

Well, this is wholly expected news, their last popular game was Duke Nukem 3D, was it not? How much longer were they expecting to ride that tidal wave of success for? 13 Years was about as long as they could hope for without a game release.

 

[Hermiod]

Well, this is wholly expected news, their last popular game was Duke Nukem 3D, was it not? How much longer were they expecting to ride that tidal wave of success for? 13 Years was about as long as they could hope for without a game release.

Depends what you mean by popular. After Duke Nukem 3D there was Max Payne, Max Payne 2 and Prey, plus various other minor Duke Nukem games.

I suspect re-releasing Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live Arcade did not hurt the bank balance.