I don't think they're holding the IP hostage so to speak but Duke Nukem Forever damaged the brand a lot it's probably not worth a lot right now. I would love to have seen Interceptors Duke Nukem Reloaded before they had to can it (well before they formed Interceptor) but it wasn't meant to be.
I honestly love Duke the way he is. Not necessarily Forevers version where I felt he was a bit too much of an asshole but Duke Nukem 3Ds where it's mostly one liners and a little bit of tittilation with plenty of interactivity. But then I grew up with 80/90s action films, I love that kind of trashy shit and would welcome a new Duke with open arms. You say it's outdated, I honestly think there would be an audience for it. But I want them to stay true to his character or have it stay dead. None of this 'bring him back but make it all self referential or mocking' shit.
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."
I honestly love Duke the way he is. Not necessarily Forevers version where I felt he was a bit too much of an asshole but Duke Nukem 3Ds where it's mostly one liners and a little bit of tittilation with plenty of interactivity. But then I grew up with 80/90s action films, I love that kind of trashy shit and would welcome a new Duke with open arms. You say it's outdated, I honestly think there would be an audience for it. But I want them to stay true to his character or have it stay dead. None of this 'bring him back but make it all self referential or mocking' shit.