Take 2 and 3D Realms: FIGHT!

The latest chapter in the saga of 3D Realms’ closure has turned another corner with publisher Take 2 deciding to sue them for not giving them a game to publish. In this case, Duke Nukem Forever. Take 2 decided to buy the IP from 3D Realms for a cool $30 million, but from what I understand, 3D Realms has kindly told them to pound salt believing the IP to be worth far more. For those of you out there who have no idea what “IP” is, it means “intellectual property”, the heart and soul of, in this case, the Duke Nukem franchise.

If Take 2 owned the IP, they could conceivably do anything with it that they wanted to…more games, spinoffs like Duke Nukem Racing, cheesy tech demos like Duke Nukem Crysis Edition for Vista 64, or Duke Nukem lunchboxes if they were into that kind of thing. Owning the IP to any property pretty much gives the owner the rights to bastardize the property in any way that they see fit. 3D Realms obviously thought that there was a lot more than $30 mil to be made with the Duke property, even without lunchboxes, which is likely why they say nay and decided to close shop than to disrespect the IP.

So now that Take 2 is suing 3D Realms, Blue’s reports that the Shack has gone through the publicly available court docs to find out just what is going on and none other than Derek Smart has weighed in to break down what it may mean in Blue’s talkback. For all of the garbage that Derek Smart has had to deal with over his storied career, he’s been there and has fought his battles, especially with Take 2 who he had actually taken to court before…twice…and won.

Interesting reading if you have the chance to go through it.

Goodbye from 3D Realms

And it’s official. 3D Realms bids goodbye to its fans with a photo featuring the team on their official site here with Duke holding the fort against the back wall.

Almost as a reply to the end of the studio, along with the artwork and renders now circulating on the ‘net, more stuff is on its way in. Courtesy of Duke4.net, two more artists, Mark Skelton and Randy Forsyth, have posted samples of the work that they’ve done for the game and just recently, new video featuring the assets of the game in motion has also been leaked.

Super-fansite Duke4 seems to be taking point in providing more of the news surrounding 3D Realms and what is left of Duke Nukem Forever, linking to downloadable versions of the demo video that was leaked as well as promising to build a media page dedicated to all of that goodness. They also have a writeup on what the picture might be on why 3D Realms had to shutter its doors, and if true, one can’t help but draw some parallels between the storied developer and that of Flagship in wanting to hold onto their IP.

3D Realms closes

3D Realms is as iconic as iD...one of the last few holdouts from the Dawn of the 3D Game in the early nineties

From Blue’s (and reporting from what Shacknews had found out as confirmed on 3D Realms’ forum) comes the shocking news that 3D Realms may be shuttering its doors for good. I say “may” because 3D Realms haven’t offered an official statement, but neither have they denied what is being said.

As much shit as 3D Realms has gotten over the years for Duke Nukem Forever, they struck me as honest guys loving the business that they’re in when it comes to making games and you can’t fault them for that. The company is also as iconic as iD, one of the last, few developers to survive through the early nineties when 3D games began to explode across the scene with Doom, Wolfenstein, and of course, Duke Nukem. And who could forget Shadow Warrior?

And now it looks like 3D Realms shuttering its doors may indeed be true as Blue’s posts another update. Art Director, Tramell Isaac, posts some of the work that he had done for Duke Nukem Forever on his blog and is putting out the call for anyone with an open spot for a talented artist like himself. The concept art is incredible stuff and I like the desktop image myself. If you’re in the mood to see what could have been, check it out. Another artist, Layne Johnson, has also gone on to post up some of his work as his calling card on his own blog confirming some of what is being speculated.

Reading up on the Shack and Blues, it sounds like Duke Nukem Forever isn’t technically dead although the developer behind it might very well be. Publisher Take Two says they still own the rights to DNF, but they confirm that they are not funding it.

I would have played it.