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3D Realms & Gearbox End Duke Nukem Legal Battle - Gearbox owns the franchise

I

inm8num2

Member
3D Realms & Gearbox End Duke Nukem Legal Battle (RPS)

Gearbox, 3D Realms, and 3DR owner Interceptor Entertainment have issued a joint statement declaring they’ve voluntarily ended all the litigation, and that Gearbox are “the full and rightful owner of the Duke Nukem franchise.”
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From the joint statement:

JOINT STATEMENT BY 3DR, INTERCEPTOR, AND GEARBOX
Gearbox Software, 3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment have resolved their differences; the parties have voluntarily ended all litigation between them.

From Mike Nielsen (3D Realms CEO): “When Interceptor acquired a license to develop ‘Duke Nukem Mass Destruction’ (‘Duke Nukem Survivor’) from 3D Realms, we did so in good faith and were not aware of any conflict. We never intended to cause any harm to Gearbox or Duke, which is why we immediately ceased development after Gearbox reached out. To secure the future of Duke, 3D Realms has agreed with Gearbox that a single home serves the IP best. And as big Duke fans, we’re excited to see what Gearbox has in store for the ‘King.’ As for our own games, we’re eager to complete development of the ‘Bombshell’ game and get it in the hands of our fans.”
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C

CrunchyFrog

Member
Interesting, but one wonders if it's too little too late. DNF is already relegated to the annals of mediocre oblivion, the IP lost any relevance it may have had left. They'd have to really knock one out the park if they do another proper sequel.
 
S

superNESjoe

Member
CrunchyFrog said:
Interesting, but one wonders if it's too little too late. DNF is already relegated to the annals of mediocre oblivion, the IP lost any relevance it may have had left. They'd have to really knock one out the park if they do another proper sequel.
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It's just sad to see Wolfenstein or the new Doom and realize an old school shooter can still be awesome. Duke could've pioneered that.
 
F

Fisty

Member
CrunchyFrog said:
Interesting, but one wonders if it's too little too late. DNF is already relegated to the annals of mediocre oblivion, the IP lost any relevance it may have had left. They'd have to really knock one out the park if they do another proper sequel.
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Well if they pull out all the stops and actually develop it in-house, GB might actually be able to make a good Duke game. Hire the right writers to really nail Duke and play up the fact that hes a man out of place in this time. It could work, but GB would really need to put in some effort... Like Borderlands-level effort to save the IP
 
N

NotLiquid

Member
I've always felt that Duke Nukem as a "satire" driven franchise would do well to have the semblance of self-satirizing in a modern age. Even Duke Nukem 3D for it's macho-driven exterior back in the day was mostly driven on tongue-in-cheek that was somewhat suitable for the age it was a part of, but Duke Nukem Forever, even in spite of being a 3D Realms joint, felt like it was driven less on satire and more on "fuck you we're better than you". I feel that kind of embodies Gearbox in a sense, including the Borderlands franchise's sense of humor.

I was kind of optimistic for the franchise at one point but couple the above with the fact that Gearbox has been hard to trust in terms of management, I feel like they're the most ill-equipped to handle Duke Nukem right now. In spite of the character being considered by many to be a relic, there's still a lot of ways for the character to be adapted and restructured. It just isn't going to be under Gearbox I feel.

This is all assuming they're not just going to shove this one in the closet like they did with Brothers In Arms.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
It's nice that the IP has a single home. But I don't think any further Duke Nukem + Gearbox games are going to result in many sales.
 
C

cirrhosis

Member
Gearbox should just contract Interceptor/3DRealms to do a Duke game, seeing as how they're so committed to the franchise. If the resulting game is a disaster, then Gearbox gets to shelve the IP for the future. I loved the Duke but I'm leaning towards creating new IPs or reinvigorating other ones from 3DRealms vast catalogue.
 
S

sangreal

Member
a good a reason as any for me to repost my favorite artifact of that lawsuit

Dear Messrs. Miller & Broussard:

Gearbox has advised me that, in lieu of complying with its lawful requests, you are
improperly soliciting personal gratuities and forgiveness from various parties (including
Gearbox). Because such gestures cannot cure the 3DR breaches, your gestures will not
circumvent Gearbox’s legal action(s) in response thereto.

Gearbox has instructed me to inform you that the pending case against you and 3DR is
not something that you can hope to individually resolve through private appeals and emotional
sidebars; Gearbox views its legal case as a formal matter with very dispassionate consequences.
And with evidence against 3DR mounting, Gearbox’s case against you gentlemen and 3DR is
clearer than ever. The only thing clearer at this point is Gearbox’s determination to publicly file
its claims against you and 3DR next week.

The only proviso is one that Gearbox just authorized me to convey. Reserving all
Gearbox rights and remedies previously stated, the offer is as follows:

Attached is a revised 3DR Declaration from Gearbox, the terms of which are more
favorable and lenient to 3DR in ways you will instantly recognize. The first of you to execute
and return the revised 3DR Declaration to our firm (via a PDF copy emailed to
xxx@tklaw.com) will receive these immediate benefits from Gearbox:


  • he will avoid being personally and individually named in next week’s court pleadings;
    and
  • he will earn an opportunity to promptly sit down with Gearbox to discuss, in good faith,
    his relationship with Gearbox and any future business matters.
To be clear: The aforementioned benefits are reserved for the first person to successfully
execute and deliver the 3DR Declaration prior to midnight (CST) tomorrow night.

Please understand that no component of the Gearbox offer is negotiable. The act of even
proposing an alteration to a single term will nullify Gearbox’s offer in its entirety for the
individual proposing the alteration. Gearbox has strictly limited—and eased—certain terms for
the purpose of enabling swift decisions by all parties.

It goes without saying that the stated offer represents a personal courtesy being extended
by certain Gearbox owners. To the extent either of you were hoping for such relief, it has now
been offered. If neither of you returns an executed version of the attached 3DR Declaration by
tomorrow’s deadline, I will inform our client that its courtesy has been rejected and will
thereafter apply the totality of our firm’s resources and attention to the upcoming litigation. You
can then both expect to receive service of the Gearbox lawsuit.
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C

Cyd0nia

Banned
Despite what shenanigans have occurred around DNF, and the sale to Gearbox - it still saddens me that people personally invested and tied to the creation of a series have effectively had it taken away from them. I was a big fan of Apogee back in the day. I hope they can put this behind them and get back to making new games.
 
J

Joseph Merrick

Member
vagabondarts said:
I haven't followed this story but how does Gearbox have rights to 3D Realms IP?
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It's not 3d realms' ip, they sold duke nukem to gearbox. But had some deal about developing another duke nukem game after the fact, just like interplay had a deal to develop that fallout mmo and selling the old games for a while after selling the ip to bethesda.

Cyd0nia said:
Despite what shenanigans have occurred around DNF, and the sale to Gearbox - it still saddens me that people personally invested and tied to the creation of a series have effectively had it taken away from them. I was a big fan of Apogee back in the day. I hope they can put this behind them and get back to making new games.
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eh, george broussard sold the ip willingly to gearbox to save 3dr from shutting down. I'm sure it wasn't the only way to save the company.
 
V

vagabondarts

Member
Joseph Merrick said:
It's not 3d realms' ip, they sold duke nukem to gearbox. But had some deal about developing another duke nukem game after the fact, just like interplay had a deal to develop that fallout mmo and selling the old games for a while after selling the ip to bethesda.
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Ah ok. Thanks for filling me in.

They can probably do something with it again.
 
M

Mr. Tibbs

Member
Cyd0nia said:
Despite what shenanigans have occurred around DNF, and the sale to Gearbox - it still saddens me that people personally invested and tied to the creation of a series have effectively had it taken away from them. I was a big fan of Apogee back in the day. I hope they can put this behind them and get back to making new games.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that like the current iteration of id, both Apogee and 3D Realms aren't what they used to be.

Duke, as a series, has been pretty much dormant for 12 years (Manhattan Project - DNF). Forget the Interceptor drama around Mass Destruction and the D3D remake, Duke's name isn't even strong enough to carry a spin-off game to market. Duke Nukem: Critical Mass became Extraction Point: Alien Shootout and the rest of the Duke handheld trilogy was scrapped. There's nothing but bad will there. To me, it seems that Duke Nukem has been nothing but trouble for Gearbox. Their origins reboot, Duke Begins, was cancelled in April, 2009 by 2K. There have been lawsuits over unpaid royalties and material infringement, and DNF didn't perform as well as they were hoping.

Speaking as a huge fan of Duke 3D, unless Devolver gets their hands on the licence, the only future appearance of Duke I can see is in a Gearbox property as a DLC/pre order bonus character skin.
 
W

Walpurgis

Banned
fwpx said:
Pitch is literally in his name, what do you expect?
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woah.gif
 
J

Justinh

Member
fwpx said:
Pitch is literally in his name, what do you expect?
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This blew my mind.

I have such great memories of playing Duke Nukem 3d back in the day, dicking around with build overnight during summer vacation, and it being one of the first games I'd play online (tying up that phone line...). Even before Duke Nukem Forever, I feel like I just grew out of it. It hasn't aged well with me and I don't find myself ever wanting to play it, and even when I do, it's only a couple minutes before I quit.

I still play Doom often, whether it be through a sourceport (zandronum), the Xbox live arcade version, or even the God-awful Saturn version, but Duke has lost its luster with me and I really find a hard time caring about his future. Although, I would find it preferable for him to be able to return to 3DRealms even though Gearbox is in the right here.
 
D

Death Metalist

Member
I'm excited for more DN. I know many hated Forever but I liked it. Here's hoping they do it justice since the next game will be built from the ground up.
 
K

KatamariOnTheRocks

Member
I can't wait for a new Duke Nukem game, hopefully this one will be a true sequel to Duke 3d.

As much as I appreciate DNF for what it is I'd still like a game based around what made Duke 3d so great and unique.
 
M

Mr. Tibbs

Member
Lionel Richie said:
Alien-colonial-marine-lulzy.gif


RIP Duke.



I might be alone here, but I think Flying Wild Hog would be a better dream scenario in this specific franchise. MG would kill it too.
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I agree. Flying Wild Hog would be the better choice. MG would never happen as they're owned by Zenimax, who wouldn't develop a property they don't own.

Weird detail: Bethesda's VP of development, Todd Vaughn, really wanted to buy Duke in 2009. He reviewed Duke 3D for PC Gamer back in the day and was a total 3DR fanboy. 3DR wouldn't sell the licence to a publisher. Radar Group, headed up by Scott Miller, ended up selling Prey to them instead, which began another very sad tale.
 
Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
Weird detail: Bethesda's VP of development, Todd Vaughn, really wanted to buy Duke in 2009. He reviewed Duke 3D for PC Gamer back in the day and was a total 3DR fanboy. 3DR wouldn't sell the licence to a publisher. Radar Group, headed up by Scott Miller, ended up selling Prey to them instead, which began another very sad tale.
Click to expand...

Jesus, I don't know what part of this is sadder. Prey is likely a hopeless cause, but I hope DOOM does well as it might help us get more reboots/sequels/remakes of 90's FPS. There's a void in this world that only Blood and Turok can fill.
 
breadtruck

breadtruck

Member
Is it wrong for me to be pleased that George Broussard cant wreck Duke anymore? Im glad its in someone else's hands.
 
F

Fractal

Banned
Well, at least it's not stuck in a legal limbo. In fact, I believe it's possible we get a good Duke Nukem game after all these years... and I actually thought DNF was decent. Sure, it's mediocre, but it was a few hours of simple fun while being neither broken nor frustrating.

While I'd be very happy to see to see FWH or MG work on it, that's very unlikely, but I'll still give Gearbox the benefit of the doubt. Colonial Marines may have been a mess and Randy doesn't seem like the most pleasant guy around, but the old BiA games and Borderlands franchise are damn good!
 
W

World SkiFree

Member
breadtruck said:
Is it wrong for me to be pleased that George Broussard cant wreck Duke anymore? Im glad its in someone else's hands.
Click to expand...
Broussard is a great Twitter presence (Mighty Boot!). It does sound like he drove the development of DNF to the ground dang near single-handedly but I've always liked him.

All said, I love DNF. I hope GB reboots Duke Begins or rolls out another DN project.
 
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