In May 2009, 3D Realms stopped development of Duke Nukem Forever as it entered into a legal battle with publisher 2K Games. But how close was the long awaited first person shooter from being completed. In a new podcast on the game's official web site. Triptych Games' president David Riegel said, "When 3D Realms shut its doors in May, I would say the game was maybe about 75-80 (percent) compared to what it is today, but it was interesting because it was a kind of an uneven 80 (percent)."

While lots of the game's content was in the build, much of it was still missing. Riegel said, "Most of the characters didn't exist. NPC behavior didn't really exist, like no head tracking or eye tracking, no lip syncing, none of that. No music, no ending: there was a planned ending but it wasn't really there."

Triptych Games, formed in July 2009 by former 3D Realms members, started working on the game before the legal issues were resolved and the game was brought under Gearbox Software's supervision.