Fans of the Duke Nukem series should be happy to learn that Duke Nukem Forever is still in development despite the ongoing legal battle between 3D Realms and Take-Two Interactive.
Surprisingly, 3D Realms explicitly notes that it continues to work on "the development of" Duke Nukem Forever, though "it released the majority of its employees working on the development" because of a "lack of funding to sustain the high level of development."
"[3D Realms/Apogee Ltd.] admits that it has continually worked on the development of the DNF for many years, and continues to do so," reads the specific clause.
Furthermore, a second Duke title was revealed to be in development from a third-party studio. Given the title "Duke Begins", the game was originally slated for release in 2010.
The new effort, titled "Duke Begins," was part of the October 2007 Agreement that saw Take-Two provide 3D Realms with $2.5 million. That sum was paid July 2008 in order to "help fund the development of the DNF game," with 3D Realms having previously said the money was "in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game."
The Take-Two-published Duke Begins was slated for release by mid-2010, with development set to begin within 2 months of the October 2007 agreement and 3D Realms stating that it needed to approve "any changes to that [development] schedule."
"All development work by the third-party game developer" on Duke Begins was halted in April 2009, 3D Realms claims "upon information and belief." However, 3D Realms says that "Take-Two...simply denied [the stoppage]," with a later letter to Take-Two VP Dan Emereson regarding the game's status said to have been "ignored."
As 3DR believes that Duke Begins "has been delayed by 12 months or longer," the company says that the push has harmed both 3DR and the Duke franchise, and will "delay any royalty payments...from sales of the Duke Begins game and prevent Apogee from being able to repay the [$2.5 million] advance when it becomes due in 2012."
For all of the fun and exciting details of this latest reveal, head on over to Shacknews. With the small possibility of one day seeing Duke Nukem Forever, it may be safe once more to begin raising your hopes back up.
It's not only not dead but there's another one in the making, what?
