Anyone remember Duke Nukem Forever? It was in development for over a decade and it looked like it might never happen until Gearbox came along and wanted to acquire the rights to the game. Once they took over in 2009 they eventually released the title in 2011 to mediocre reviews. Although it did capture some of the greatness of Duke Nukem as a character, there was much to be desired and the game still didn’t feel complete.
Fast forward to today and things are heating up between the two companies as 3D Realms is now suing Gearbox for $2 million claiming that they are withholding owed royalties. Gearbox’s VP of Marketing, Steve Gibson, responded to a request for further details from Joystiq with the following statement.
Everyone wished that 3DR’s game was better received by the market for the benefit of gamers and profit to its creators,” Gibson continued. “While 3DR might not wish the reality that the results make clear, 3DR turned out to be the only beneficiary of the deal. Gearbox Software, meanwhile, experienced damage to its credibility and loss of its money.”
It looks like there are fuzzy details surrounding this lawsuit and it’s probably in the best interest of both companies to get this situation cleaned up and unfortunately that means heading to court. This lawsuit was originally discovered by Duke4.net, where they have an image of the filing.
