Duke Nukem is about to make a striking and unbelievable come back. Not only has Gearbox Software gained the rights to finally release Duke Nukem Forever in 2011, but they have gained the rights to the ENTIRE FRANCHISE and Duke Nukem name!
Obviously, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford is hoping that he can revive the tarnished Duke name and hopefully do some amazing things with it that were abused under previous owner 3D Realms.
The reason he has been successful thus far is due to his relationship with 3D Realms, where he even worked on Duke Nukem Forever himself back in the day. And because of this he is good friends with 3D Realms bosses like Scott Miller and George Broussard; Making their acquirement of the IP only natural.
In fact Pitchford gives the credit to Miller as the one who got him into the industry in the first place, due to his early days at 3D Realms and the experience it gave him. And Pitchford knew that he may be the only person/studio capable of saving Duke… After seeing the problems that had struck 3D Realms, he sprang into action.
To quote:
“We felt like we were in a spot where we can fix this. We’re local. Everyone trusts us. We can keep Duke alive.” – Randy Pitchford, Gearbox Software. Duke Savior.
“We felt like we were in a spot where we can fix this,” he said. “We’re local. Everyone trusts us. We can keep Duke alive.” About a year ago they had a tentative agreement in place. However only a couple months ago did it officially go into effect. But even then, legal crap stood in the way due to unresolved disputes between 3D Realms and Take-Two over funds.
At that point though, Pitchford actually went the extra mile himself and had a meeting with 2K President Christopher Hartmann to make his case for saving Duke.
“When I acquired the brand, I acquired the liability,” Pitchford said. “Fortunately, we have a good relationship with Take-Two and they got behind it. I was able to help clear the drama away.”
Once they acquired Duke Nukem Forever, they had to pick up the pieces and actually assemble it into a legit game. No easy feat.
“It was a lot of great tech, a lot of great features and subsystems, a lot of great gameplay mechanics. It was a lot of stuff, but it wasn’t assembled into a game.”
Read more on Randy Pitchford’s thoughts on Duke Nukem to go more in depth on the subject and his thoughts.
Additionally, here is an interview with the voice of Duke himself, Jon St. John! The short interview was conducted by Destructoid just as he was leaving PAX Prime 2010 from signing autographs.
Suffice it to say, I have complete faith in Gearbox after hearing all this? What about you?
Via 1UP