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There was just the small sticking point that 3D Realms was more a rights-holder than an active studio at that point.Įnter Gearbox, which in September of 2010 announced that it would shepherd the troubled game to completion. In June of 2010, 3D Realms and Take-Two settled their dispute, clearing the way for development on the game to continue. The 15 years between Duke Nukem 3D and its sequel were long enough for a fan to both be born and outgrow the series' humor
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Forever was announced in 1997, delayed a bunch of times, and eventually saw 3D Realms and original publisher Take-Two Interactive go to court over whether and how the game could possibly be finished. The essential embodiment of video game development hell, Duke Nukem Forever was the long-awaited follow up to Apogee/3D Realms' 1996 first-person shooter hit Duke Nukem 3D. The studio also had a much-anticipated first-person shooter based on Aliens in the works with Sega, and the Brothers in Arms franchise was still recent enough to be relevant, even if it hadn't received a new entry in a couple years.Īnd perhaps best of all, it wasn't constantly involved in a series of lawsuits.
DUKE NUKEM FOREVER DEVELOPMENT TIME SOFTWARE
Gearbox Software seemed to be in a pretty good position heading in 2010.īorderlands, the original IP the studio had just launched the previous holiday season, was a bonafide hit.
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So to refresh our collective memory and perhaps offer some perspective on our field's history, runs this monthly feature highlighting happenings in gaming from exactly a decade ago. That said, even an industry so entrenched in the now can learn from its past. The games industry moves pretty fast, and there's a tendency for all involved to look constantly to what's next without so much worrying about what came before.
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