3D Realms lives... sort of @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on May 19, 2009

News: Duke Nukem Forever is still dead, but the company lives on.

It seems the reports of 3D Realms' demise have been great exaggerated. At least according to 3D Realms that is.

In light of Take-Two filing a lawsuit against 3D Realms over the cancellation of Duke Nukem Forever, the company has decided to fire back with their own brand of the truth. So according to 3D Realms, this is the real deal:

Development on DNF was shut down on May 6 after negotiations between 3D Realms and Take-Two broke off.

All of the DNF development staff was then fired.

However, 3D Realms still exists as a company to license the Duke Nukem character to other companies. This is obviously how Apogee is able to continue development of the DS and PSP versions of Duke Nukem Trilogy.

According to the company, they had to let the staff go because Take-Two's offer to buy the 3D Realms development team was unacceptable because it included "no upfront money, no guarantee minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game."

3D Realms was also clear they have not received a penny from Take-Two for the development of DNF. They did receive $2.5 million from Take-Two for "another agreement for an unannounced game" (!), but none for DNF itself.

They conclude their statement by vowing to fight Take-Two's lawsuit, which they call a "bully tactic."

We'll have more on this ugly situation soon.