Duke Nukem Forever’s original developers, 3D Realms, may be gone for ever. They closed their doors finally this month. But that won’t stop Take-Two interactive, potential publishers of Duke Nukem Forever, from extracting their pound of flesh. Take-Two has filed a claim with a New York state court for breach of contract over $12 million paid to 3D Realms for developing the game.
According to the filing, Duke Nukem Forever has been in development since 1997. 3D Realms “continually delayed the completion date” for the game, according to Take-Two’s deposition. And 3D Realms “repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of Duke Nukem Forever.”
In 2000, Take-Two gave 3D Realms $12 million for publishing rights for Duke Nukem Forever. In 2007, the companies entered into a second agreement not detailed by Bloomberg’s report of the court filing.
What happens now? It’s clear that Take-Two owns the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever. But exactly how salvageable the game code is, or whether they will even want to publish a game its own creators referred to as an “industry joke“, remains to be seen.
