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Gearbox Sues 3D Realms And Interceptor Over Newly Announced Duke Nukem Title
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
IdreamofHIME
Member
Worst 1st post in a while.
Gearbox paid for the rigths to the series, it's their right to protect it.
Shmuely Bully
Member
I can't imagine that Interceptor went ahead without some sort of assurance that they could use the IP, particularly given that prior to RoTT2013 they had a Duke Nukem remake that they didn't release for free because they couldn't secure permission. I'm guessing it's more than just Gearbox who is pretty unhappy with 3D Realms right about now.
What were they thinking?
What were they thinking?
CamHostage
Member
Exactly my thoughts. For 3D Realms to start up the project as if it'd be no big deal to make a game for a franchise you no longer have IP control over, that's just straight nuts.
Heh, seriously.
Since we don't know what plans, if any, Gearbox has for Duke Nukem, t'd be great if this could somehow end up with the new Interceptor product being released under the proper terms of the deal (3D Realms still has some franchise backend or ties into the franchise, correct? They still sell the first three games and were involved in promoting DNF but I wasn't sure what their stake is in the rest.) But lawsuits are rarely the best place for a partnership to start.
Well, that was a bootleg "fan-made" game, sort of, and between the complex rights negotiation for Duke and the use of the UDK dev kit they used (would have been a payment to Epic if it had been turned into a commercial product, correct?), it just couldn't happen. This is a little bit of different story, and being contracted by a company usually comes with a fair assumption that the company has the rights to offer a contract, but you're right, Interceptor did deal with Gearbox (as well as 3D Realms) directly in the whole DN3D Reloaded process. Did they lose Randy Pitchford's email address?
Gearbox didn't code them, but Gearbox's staff produced both games. The staff did design doc, on Aliens did a few passes before finding help, and had producers overseeing the outsourced work. Gearbox had final approval and it put the Gearbox name on the box. (Plus, its head promoted the games as major new products from his studio.) Yes, there is a problem with using "they" to describe a company when it's hundreds of people who have no say (or care, probably, as they're just doing their jobs programming and drawing) in most of these matters we complain about. And yes, DNF is a particularly tricky case because so much of it used the warmed-over original designs and also because it had to be so rushed to completion (I agree, its mark of quality should not be held against the bulk of the team at Gearbox doing such great work on games like Borderlands.) But the Gearbox name is on those two products, you can't just selectively write them out of a discussion of Gearbox as a company.
Gearbox's product quality should not be the question here (3DR used the brand name illegally, pretty much end of story,) but it does make sense that some gamers feel burnt and cringe with a grudge when they see the Gearbox company name in the news.
flaxknuckles
Member
They definitely still suck for canceling the Duke Nukem 3D remake that was being made.
Most consumers don't care about who is in the legal right to do what I imagine. How many people supported the RIAA when they were suing grandmas?
2spooky4me
Member
It's amazing to see how many people here fail to understand what's going on, and make a post before thinking.
Gearbox is completely in the right here.
Widgetcraft
Neo Member
What this thread proves is that Gearbox has a serious public image issue that they need to deal with. There was a time that people were quite fond of Gearbox, and now they're one of the most hated developers in the industry. That isn't a good place to be, considering how many people enjoyed Borderlands 2.
As a DN fan, I'm worried they intend to sit on the IP. That doesn't make it okay for 3D Realms and Interceptor (the latter of which will probably deny that they knew anything of this, since they have their own problems with intellectual honesty) to run hog-wild with something that doesn't belong to them. Gearbox's failings are numerous; Aliens was a significant mistake, but even DNF -- a game that I actually enjoyed as a budget title -- was another one.
Gearbox doesn't stand to suffer from this. Interceptor probably stands to suffer most since as far as I know 3D Realms is basically George Broussard and "kind of" Scott Miller (the latter of which is way too intelligent to let this happen, so I wonder in what way he fucked this up).
The IP is in limbo right now, but I don't begrudge Gearbox for sitting on it (Duke: Begins is probably dead, or where Alien was years and years ago). But they do deserve to decide what happens from here on out with that IP.
My guess would be Interceptor decided (wrongly) that their license to do the Duke remake somehow expanded into to the right to make this. They have basically no intelligence when it comes to law (they've admitted to this), and maybe that extends to 3DR considering their past efforts to extract money from Gearbox.
What a fucking joke. At the middle of it, and IP that has deserves better. And considering how stupid DN is, that's saying something.
Taking money from SEGA to use to pay for Borderlands 2, then outsourcing the game they should have been making for sega "Alien Colonel Marines" to another inexperienced studio to save money.what is this hate for gearbox all of a sudden. no one as of yet gave a good reason or a reason at all. All I'm reading is, I hate gearbox.
EDIT: Basically they half assed two releases (Duke and Aliens) with shoddy bordering on illegal financing practices
Flawless Victory.
Did Gearbox ever issue an official statement on that? I remember when the news hit GAF, but forget what transpired after.
HellBlazer
Member
This story is hilarious.
Though honestly, until now I was under the impression that Gearbox had only been hired to finished Duke Nukem Forever. I didn't know they actually owned the IP now. This makes the state of the game rather inexplicable though... why would you just finish the shitty work started by others and release a crappy game if it's your own IP on the line? One more delay to go back to the drawing board for a bit wouldn't exactly have hurt at this point.
Though honestly, until now I was under the impression that Gearbox had only been hired to finished Duke Nukem Forever. I didn't know they actually owned the IP now. This makes the state of the game rather inexplicable though... why would you just finish the shitty work started by others and release a crappy game if it's your own IP on the line? One more delay to go back to the drawing board for a bit wouldn't exactly have hurt at this point.
Anticitizen One
Banned
I thought they were using assets and stuff that was made by 3D realms and just finishing it up?
The rationale was that they wanted to release the game that 3DRealms / Triptych designed -- it was a noble response to a more-or-less weak product, but surely you can see that scrapping the entirety of it and restarting yet again on a 13-year-old game would instill more doubt, not less.
It wasn't economically unsound; they got a game out of it with minimal involvement, and an IP that has room for growth. Yes, they game wasn't good, but blame across media outlets trickled off of Gearbox and landed on 3D Realms -- something Gearbox probably expected and desired. Say what you will, Gearbox is nothing if not conniving.
TheChewyWaffles
Member
Source?
HellBlazer
Member
Hah, yeah I suppose if you look at it like that, there's some sort of business savvy to it... if a bit of a lack of integrity. "Let's just release the game and let others take the blame for its crappiness." But hey, Gearbox.
IsntChrisL
Member
I don't know why 3DR thought this would be okay. I guess they were shooting for the "it's better to ask for forgiveness later than permission now" angle.
PAULINK
I microwave steaks.
They killed Sega. Killed them.
The article is confusingly written. Let me get this straight.
1) 3DRealms/Interceptor announce Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction
2) Gearbox sends 3DRealms a cease and desist
3) On Feb. 16, 3DRealms apologizes, agrees that Gearbox is the sole owner of the Duke IP, and promises not to use the Duke IP
4) On Feb. 21, Gearbox sues 3DRealms and Interceptor
So the question is, why did Gearbox sue? Did 3DRealms or Interceptor do something after Feb. 16 to renege on their agreement not to use the Duke property?
Possibilities:
- Maybe Interceptor said "F U, we licensed this shit fair and square and we're making this game." Or ignored Gearbox's requests to shut down the project
- Maybe Gearbox is so pissed at 3DR/Interceptor that they were always going to sue whether development ceased or not
- ???
1) 3DRealms/Interceptor announce Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction
2) Gearbox sends 3DRealms a cease and desist
3) On Feb. 16, 3DRealms apologizes, agrees that Gearbox is the sole owner of the Duke IP, and promises not to use the Duke IP
4) On Feb. 21, Gearbox sues 3DRealms and Interceptor
So the question is, why did Gearbox sue? Did 3DRealms or Interceptor do something after Feb. 16 to renege on their agreement not to use the Duke property?
Possibilities:
- Maybe Interceptor said "F U, we licensed this shit fair and square and we're making this game." Or ignored Gearbox's requests to shut down the project
- Maybe Gearbox is so pissed at 3DR/Interceptor that they were always going to sue whether development ceased or not
- ???
Memorabilia
Member
Can't we all just get along?
I wouldn't say it's "dumb shit" so much as perhaps a different perspective.
Not everyone agrees that living in such a litigious country is a good thing. I've found that gamers, by and large, are an idealistic bunch who have an exceedingly good moral compass. So, although Gearbox is well within their rights to sue in this case, the gaming community is going to have its fair share of vocal gamers who just want good games and dont always pay attention to the legal/economic realities which we are now essentially forced to live under. It's highly likely a sizable % of gamers are into gaming as much as they are precisely because the "real world" is so messed up. And if you have a population of people who love an entertainment medium at least partially bc its a wonderful escape, is it fair of us to be overly judgemental when some of them are vocal in a way that indicates they dont give a shit about the way the real world works?
Ok thats all I've got in defense of this. Lol
And having said all that, WTF was 3D Realms thinking?
Memorabilia
Member
Agreed. A couple things happened about 1 second after A:CM hit shelves: 1) All of the implicit trust they had built up with gamers with Borderlands 1&2 was instantly gone; 2) Because of this, Gearbox may have officially become "the bad guys" in the minds of many gamers for any subsequent situation, controversy, or conflict. Deserved or not, the stink of an A:CM debacle stays with u for a long while.
I can understand some goof on the net trying this, but a incorporated company?
Uhhh, what about Triptych Games? Yeah... your fun fact? It's not a fact.
Pretty sure they were being sarcastic