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[ultrazilla]

One of my favorite games of all time, Duke Nukem 3D pushed what many thought couldn't be done in a video game before-have a sense of humor, have a kick ass character and feature in game interactivity. Interactivity that lead the player to explore levels, hit switches, buttons, activate secret areas and utilize various objects to blast, bomb, shoot and kill alien invader scum.

If you're a Duke Nukem fan, you're probably aware of what happened with the *old* 3drealms when it was headed by George Broussard and Scott Miller. They basically
disbanded the entire development team of Duke Nukem Forever after Take 2 decided they would not give Broussard anymore money to "complete" the game when they were "very close" to the finishing line.

Broussard and Miller went on to sell the IP to Gearbox ie: Randy Pitchford and crew who ended up completing Duke Nukem Forever and releasing the game(to their credit after a sizeable staff took their time to put the jigsaw of puzzle pieces of the game together that 3drealms gave them).

Anyways, it's a fascinating history and story behind the game and 3drealms(whom contrary to popular belief, never really "shut down"....a few people remained like George basically keeping the name alive until another group of investors and fans bought the 3drealms company and it's entire backlog of games).

There was some bad blood between the "new" 3drealms and Gearbox as the "new" 3drealms was trying to create a new Duke Nukem game(the now titled "Bombshell" that recently went gold). A lawsuit was filed, things got a bit ugly, 3drealms asked for the IP back/offered to buy it back but Gearbox refused. The case was later settled amicably out of court with both sides basically saying it was a big misunderstanding and everyone loves each other.

Now, here we are in 2016 and NOTHING has came out of Gearbox's mouth regarding any future plans for Duke Nukem. It's my opinion that Gearbox is sitting on the IP and basically keeping it hostage out of spite to the new 3drealms crew. At one time back before the ugly court case, Gearbox had revealed they were working on "Duke Nukem Begins", an apparent "reboot"/fresh start for the character/franchise. Since that small tidbit and courtcase, Gearbox has not given any indication Duke Nukem is part of any future plans for their company.

I guess what I'm getting at is I hope I'm wrong and Gearbox is working on a Duke Nukem game(internally and NOT contracted out like the debacle of "ALIENS: Colonial Marines").

Especially with VR about to make a MAJOR splash on the gaming scene, I'd love to play a Duke Nukem game with Jon St John voicing Duke again while using an Oculus Rift or Vive throwing pipe bombs and blowing up pig cops and alien scum.

Does ANYONE out there know or have contacts inside Gearbox who's willing to at least give a hint that Duke is alive there and not forgotten or being held back to spite the new 3drealms?

Always believe. Always.

 

[BocoDragon]

Honestly it was a miracle that a Duke Nukem game was released as late as 2011.

If it ever comes back, I fully expect it to poke fun at itself/be a conscious 90s throwback.

The Brady Bunch Movie of videogames.

 

[Card Boy]

Give it to Flying Wild Hog, Apogee or Croteam please. Fuck Gearbox, the best Boarderlands game didn't even have gameplay and was made by a different dev at that!!!

 

[@MUWANdo]

They own it, they can do or not do whatever they want with it, even if the things they want to do are repugnant and dumb.

 

[Corpekata]

3d realms just fully lost the rights like 20 days ago, is it really surprising there's been no news?

If they're not doing anything with it, it's not to spite them, it's because they probably don't think there's much of an audience for the franchise. And they're probably not wrong.

 

[Worthintendo]

It kinda freaks me out that Duke Nukem Forever came out 5 years ago after however long it was in development for ._.

In another few years the new crop of FPS players weren't even alive in a time when Duke Nukem Forever was stuck in development hell.

 

[Ivan 3414]

I hope Duke Nukem stays in the past. It's a tasteless shitfest of an IP.

 

[Psyrgery ES]

Well, I remember some time ago after DNF was released that some Duke fan argued that Gearbox bought the license in order to get rid of competition, which may sound really weird but OP's thread reminded me of that guy.

Also, kinda disagree with OP's saying that GBX finished the game. It was Triptich games who finished the main campaign, GBX just made minor changes and added voice acting, polished and ported the game to consoles and Piranha games worked on the Multiplayer.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Not sure sitting on the Duke Nukem IP in 2016 necessarily has to be out of spite, it could just be that they don't feel they can make any money with it right now.

 

[-MD-]

It's a tasteless shitfest of an IP.

That's why people like it.

 

[Surface of Me]

Well, I remember some time ago after DNF was released that some Duke fan argued that Gearbox bought the license in order to get rid of competition, which may sound really weird but OP's thread reminded me of that guy.

Also, kinda disagree with OP's saying that GBX finished the game. It was Triptich games who finished the main campaign, GBX just made minor changes and added voice acting, polished and ported the game to consoles and Piranha games worked on the Multiplayer.

Get rid of competition? Had they not bought the IP Im sure it would have never come out.

 

[ultrazilla]

Well, I remember some time ago after DNF was released that some Duke fan argued that Gearbox bought the license in order to get rid of competition, which may sound really weird but OP's thread reminded me of that guy.

Also, kinda disagree with OP's saying that GBX finished the game. It was Triptich games who finished the main campaign, GBX just made minor changes and added voice acting, polished and ported the game to consoles and Piranha games worked on the Multiplayer.

You're right on http://www.triptychgames.com/index.html
Credit is due for them in terms of helping complete the game.

And it's a shame with the multiplayer by Piranha as it was actually FUN. Got a ton of laughs playing it. I know Piranha had/has a questionable development history but they did a fantastic job on the Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer IMO.

 

[friskykillface]

duke nukem 64 was such a huge game, all those levels x paths x secrets x co-op, awesome

shrink ray fights were hilarious lol


think Duke is stuck in the past though, i wanna free the duke but you know, the money is what may be why hes held back

 

[killroy87]

Very few IPs have aged poorer than Duke Nukem. It can stay in the past

 

[BocoDragon]

It kinda freaks me out that Duke Nukem Forever came out 5 years ago after however long it was in development for ._.

In another few years the new crop of FPS players weren't even alive in a time when Duke Nukem Forever was stuck in development hell.

Me too. I did the math on that just as this thread was made. Wow.

It's amazing how fast 5 years will go by when you're an adult

 

[ultrazilla]

Not sure sitting on the Duke Nukem IP in 2016 necessarily has to be out of spite, it could just be that they don't feel they can make any money with it right now.

Then they should sell it IMO. Especially when you have interested parties.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Its a bit damaged after the last game give it a couple more years

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Then they should sell it IMO. Especially when you have interested parties.

Why? It's probably at it's lowest point value wise. Why sell it now? They don't have any obligation to use every IP they own.

 

[ElTopo]

Honestly it was a miracle that a Duke Nukem game was released as late as 2011.

If it ever comes back, I fully expect it to poke fun at itself/be a conscious 90s throwback.

The Brady Bunch Movie of videogames.

1st post sums it up.

 

[Ein Bear]

How well did Forever sell in the end? It hit bargain bins here in the UK pretty quickly, so I can't imagine it did very well.

 

[human onion]

Well I know that Blood is being held hostage by legal fuckery. It's more likely for a new Duke game to come out than that.

 

[ultrazilla]

Very few IPs have aged poorer than Duke Nukem. It can stay in the past

See, I don't agree with this. I didn't like some of the things in DNF and they were done in poor taste and not in line with the character. But I think there's a place for him in today's video game world.

I know some of the creative folks behind Duke had even said off the record that the Duke character in Forever was terribly mishandled. But then again, the whole game was so.......yeah..

 

[Protome]

What 3DRealms did with DNF was either gross mismanagent or a straight up scam.

Gearbox only tend to focus on talking about one game at a time, we will probably hear about a new Duke Nukem after Battle born (or after the next Borderlands.)

I'm not sure who would even want to buy the IP if they tried to sell it though. 3DRealms really poisoned the well with DNF.

 

[WanderingWind]

Companies don't not sell something they think will make them money purely out of spite. I'm not a telepath, so I can't say for certain hat's not part of somebody's decision making process. But if there is no Duke game being made, it's because somebody doesn't think it's going to make money. Considering the poor critical and fan reception to DNF, they're probably right on. Duke, like Boogerman and Leisure Suit Larry, is a product of a bygone age.

 

[Strangelove77]

The best thing you can do with such a dated IP is to make fun of it. Maybe like Shadow Warrior.
Id rather it stay dead though.

 

[Psyrgery ES]

People seem to think that the Duke Ip is only composed of Duke Nukem Forevee, come on guys it has potential if handled with just enougj care.

As for demand of classix FPS formula games, DooM and Shadow Warrior 2 are close to being released (DooM is, at least) There's also Serious Sam 4 under development out there. GBX might take a look on sales figures for those games and see if people are interested

Also, Gearbox was (apparently) looking for developers to outsource a new Duke game not long ago but good luck with that after the total fuckery the development of Aliens colonial marines ended up being.

BTW people seem to put the blame on GBX for the total fuckery that DNF was. Every bad decision taken in the development of that game was made in 3DR, (mainly George Broussard). GBX are guilty of removing the editing tools and outright lying about it

 

[kinoki]

Duke Nukem is a fun game but it was the Build-engine that made it great. As a stand-alone game it has little to no value. It's a quick nostalgia re-make. The ones we detest when they're movies. Just let it be dead in peace. It's better like that.

 

[Mulgrok]

Companies don't not sell something they think will make them money purely out of spite. I'm not a telepath, so I can't say for certain hat's not part of somebody's decision making process. But if there is no Duke game being made, it's because somebody doesn't think it's going to make money. Considering the poor critical and fan reception to DNF, they're probably right on. Duke, like Boogerman and Leisure Suit Larry, is a product of a bygone age.

Clearly you haven't seen Konami's business practices.

 

[ForsakenLotus]

I don't really think there is a place for Duke Nukem in modern gaming, but that's just me.

 

[Stiler]

DNF just felt like a game stuck in the past. Like if they took Wolfenstein and simply released it like it was originally made but with newer graphics instead of actually updating the way the game played, the way the story was told, etc.

It felt like some circa 1998 game that finally got around to being released.

I think Duke still has the appeal but they need to give the game time and a budget to be a NEW game, not an old game with a new games window dressings over it.

Design the game from the ground up as a modern game, but keep Duke, as a character, how he is. A throw back "Man's man" the likes of Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, Kurt Russel, Arnold, etc.

Bring in some good writers that can do that kind of story/character justice (not like the potty mouth immature slant we got with DNF) but more "John Carpenter" style like he was, think Escape from NY/Big Trouble in Little China.

Then have the gameplay be you know, something up to date and fun, lots of interactivity with the environment and varied gameplay that doesn't feel like it's almost a 90's era on-rails style linear game.

 

[WanderingWind]

Clearly you haven't seen Konami's business practices.

I mean, "lol fuck Konamai DAE love Jim Sterling lol so random POGS!" But pachinko makes them profit hand-over-fist. Massive video games that take half a decade and tens of millions of dollars to make don't. They're not quitting AAA video gaming out of spite, they're doing it because it doesn't make them a ton of cash. And no, as a video game fan I don't care about their profits. But as an adult, I understand they're not just some evil, mustache-twirling villains out to fuck up my video games.

 

[SalvaPot]

I honestly think is dead, maybe a mobile game will be received in the future, but after all that happened with forever is hard to justify development on a new one.

 

[JaseC]

Gearbox developing its own Duke game strikes me as decided unlikely, but Devolver licensing the IP and partnering yet again with Flying Wild Hog is something I consider probable.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Hold hostage? They freaking own it. What just because I have a dog does that mean I'm holding him hostage?

 

[Ryan_IGN]

Randy Pitchford has a very personal connection to the Duke Nukem IP -- he worked on 3D and it was his first-ever game. I really believe he has a love for it. That's part of the reason he bought it.

That being said, Gearbox (TX) is just one team. My *guess* is that Gearbox's new Quebec studio will do a new Brothers in Arms game. Randy had been talking that one up somewhat recently too.

My next guess is that Randy will personally lead a new Duke Nukem project with the TX team AFTER Borderlands 3 (which is almost certainly their next project after Battleborn ships).

I'm sure I'll end up being wrong, but all of that makes sense in my head.

 

[Fisty]

Time is the only thing holding Duke hostage. One day 90s Xtreme culture will be looked back on as nostalgic instead of pathetic, and Duke will return.

 

[Mivey]

It's the other way around: They protect the world from the atrocity of a new Duke Nukem game, not that it would be released before the heat death of the universe, but (legally) nuking it from orbit is the only way to be sure.

 

[Falk]

Just give Duke a short brown haircut or shaved bald and he'll fit right in with 21st century shooter protagonists.

 

[Hip Hop]

Just give Duke a short brown haircut or shaved bald and he'll fit right in with 21st century shooter protagonists.

and make the game open world.

 

[darkinstinct]

AFAIK 3D Realms can buy back the IP for what they sold it for plus interest according to the trial. They just don't have the money. Also FPS don't work in VR, that's just your pipe (bomb) dream.

 

[krang]

Give Machinegun Games a chance with it...

 

[Mushroomer25]

I mean, holding something hostage implies that thing has value. Gearbox bought the Duke Nukem rights, then released a game that immediately stripped those rights of any discernible value.

I imagine they're holding onto the IP as they try and figure out something to do with it, beyond just repackaging & reselling the old stuff.

Personally, I'd love it if they could take all the half-finished versions of Duke Nukem Forever that must have accumulated over the development process, then get each in a playable state. It'd be a playable documentary of gaming's greatest flop.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

give it to machinegames or wild flying hog
those are the ONLY capable studios.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

I hope Duke Nukem stays in the past. It's a tasteless shitfest of an IP.

Agreed, Duke has no place in the modern world. He is a relic of a bygone era like Leisure Suit Larry.

 

[Falk]

Duke has aged worse than breakdancing.

 

[KissVibes]

Unless the next Duke Nukem is all about him being a completely miserable piece of shit that ruins everything and that everyone hates, the IP should stay dead as fuck. Duke Nukem was disgustingly dated and made Duke out to be the biggest fictional sociopath ever written. Why would you even want to waste another studios time with the character? MachineGames taking Blazkowicz and making him more than a one-dimensional avatar for nazi-killing is completely different from trying to make Duke something other than what amounts to "Creepy Uncle that keeps asking if he can score some piss for his parole officer off of you, while quoting Lethal Weapon 2 and They Live."

 

[Jerry Orbach]

"Creepy Uncle that keeps asking if he can score some piss for his parole officer off of you, while quoting Lethal Weapon 2 and They Live."

This is the Bruce Campbell movie I want to see.

 

[G-Fex]

Very few IPs have aged poorer than Duke Nukem. It can stay in the past

Still solid great gameplay and fun weaponry. Pretty good levels and memorable stuff.

It'll age better than borderlands, which should stay dead and in the past.

I mean, "lol fuck Konamai DAE love Jim Sterling lol so random POGS!" But pachinko makes them profit hand-over-fist. Massive video games that take half a decade and tens of millions of dollars to make don't. They're not quitting AAA video gaming out of spite, they're doing it because it doesn't make them a ton of cash. And no, as a video game fan I don't care about their profits. But as an adult, I understand they're not just some evil, mustache-twirling villains out to fuck up my video games.

It's about time someone said this finally.

 

[Lord of Castamere]

I'm sure I'll end up being wrong, but all of that makes sense in my head.

More like Quebec rushing out Borderlands: The Almost Sequel for 2017, and Gearbox makes Battleborn 2: Born of Blood for 2020.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to see more games from those franchises(especially BiA), but I don't see it happening. You don't open a new studio for 5+ year dead franchises.

 

[krang]

give it to machinegames or wild flying hog
those are the ONLY capable studios.

PCF, maybe?