For over 12 years, fans of the insanely popular PC game Duke Nukem have been waiting for the next installment in the franchise. Yesterday it was confirmed that the software company developing Duke Nukem Forever, 3D Realms, is shutting its doors, effectively ending what may be the longest running software development cycle in gaming history.
Development of Duke Nukem Forever began in mid-1996 as the much anticipated sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, one of the most memorable first-person shooter games of the 90′s. Duke Nukem 3D was very controversial, and popular, in the mid-90′s due to its excessive violence, strong language, and crude content. It was one of the first games that had hilarious, memorable, and quotable audio clips.
I was in middle school when this game was first released, and I clearly remember many late night gaming sessions playing Duke Nukem 3D; a bunch of us huddled around a PC with the one kid in town that convinced his parents to buy the game. You were especially cool if you could quote Duke Nukem lines in context.
Duke Nukem Forever has been turned into a software development legend in the last 12 years. It has won the infamous Wired Vaporware Award quite a few times (including the Lifetime Achievement Award), for the most hyped title that has yet to be released. If you Google “when it’s done”, the Duke Nukem Forever website is the number one result. Many delays were caused by 3D Realms switching physics engines every few years, much to the frustration of the gaming world.
3D Realms has closed up shop due to lack of funding. Take-Two Interactive still holds the rights to Duke Nukem Forever, but currently they have no plans of ever releasing the game. I think the Duke may finally be dead. Well, at least there will always be the Duke Nukem soundboard.
For the complete timeline of Duke Nukem Forever delays, and a few kickass teaser trailers, check out A Decade of Duke on Shack News.
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