duke-nukem-forever-lawsuit posts

This is, without a doubt, a huge rumor but if it's true it could signal the completion of a game that's been in development for well over a decade. Kotaku is reporting through unnamed sources that development of Duke Nukem Forever is underway again but not at the first person shooter's original home of 3D Realms. Instead the story claims the game is in the hands of fellow Dallas-based developer Gearbox Software.

Just a recap: 3D Realms spend a ton of time and money to make Duke Nukem Forever but disputes with the game's publisher Take Two Interactive forced lawsuits between the two companies and the shut down of the game's dev team at 3D Realms in May 2009. The legal issues between the two companies were settled earlier this year but details about the settlement were not revealed. One thing that did come up in the lawsuits was that Gearbox was working on a separate spin-off game, Duke Begins, that was halted when the issues between Take Two and 3D Realms begin in 2009.

Reps from Take Two and 3D Realms would not comment on these latest rumors but Gearbox head man Randy Pitchford said he may be able to say something to clarify the issue at this year's Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle in September. Could PAX finally be the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel that is Duke Nukem Forever's development? Stay tuned.

It's been almost a year since developer 3D Realms laid off the majority of staff from their long-in-development shooter Duke Nukem Forever. While 3D Realms' CEO Scott Miller insists the game has not yet stopped production there's been no real word on the game's progress. Oh, and there's still that pesky lawsuit filed by the game's planned publisher Take Two Interactive.

However some new footage from Duke Nukem Forever has supposedly found its way to YouTube (in fact the video has been there since December 2009 but was just noticed more recently). While some of the footage has been seen before, there are also parts of the video that have not been seen in any previous leaked gameplay footage. Meanwhile, there's been no news on the court fight between 3D Realms and Take Two on the game for some time.

The legal fight between 3D Realms/Apogee Software and publisher Take Two Interactive over the long awaited FPS Duke Nukem Forever remains one of the biggest news stories of 2009 so far and now more info on the lawsuit has come to light. A filing made by Take Two to the New York State Supreme Court on May 11 and posted on the court's web site on June 13 gives Take Two's side of the story in full.

In short, Take Two states that in early 2009 they came to 3D Realms/Apogee to work on an agreement to make an Xbox 360 version of the game alongside the PC version. According to the Take Two statement, 3D Realms requested that they fully fund the game. Instead Take Two said they would fund 50 percent of the game's development for the PC and Xbox 360 version and would fund the remaining 50 percent when Duke Nukem Forever was completeted. Take Two stated that 3D Realms rejected this offer.

We had a feeling that the shutdown of 3D Realms was not the end of the Duke Nukem Forever saga . . . and we were right. Just not in a good way. Bloomberg reports that the game's publisher Take Two Interactive has filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms and its parent company Apogee, claiming that the developer had breached its contract in its handling of the long-in-development shooter.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, states, "Apogee continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever. Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever." The story states that Take Two paid $12 million in 2000 for the game's publishing rights and the two parties entered into another agreement in 2007. The story does not state what damages Take Two is asking for in the lawsuit.