With the Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction lawsuit reportedly settled this past May, Gearbox, Interceptor, and 3D Realms have now all released statements, confirming that they’ve resolved their differences and voluntarily ended all litigation.
3D Realms CEO Mike Nielsen said:
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.
Interceptor CEO Frederik Schreiber then cleared up some things about the lawsuit:
I want to express my deepest gratitude to Gearbox for allowing me to work on Duke Nukem Reloaded. I decided to cease production of Reloaded in 2011 to establish Interceptor and work on Rise of the Triad.
I want to make it clear now, once and for all – It was my own decision to pull the plug on Duke Nukem Reloaded, even though we were fully allowed to continue development. I respect Gearbox for supporting a young developer, and I’m glad we can now put this behind us.
I look forward to completing development on “Bombshell” and—as a long-time fan of Duke—I’m excited to see what Gearbox has in store for the ‘King’!
Bombshell is a top-down action role-playing game set for release in 2015 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. According to Schreiber, the “finishing touches” are being put on the game.
Gearbox President Randy Pitchford added:
I genuinely appreciate Mr. Nielsen’s and Mr. Schreiber’s statement and sincerely offer my best wishes to Interceptor Entertainment and 3D Realms towards their future success and, as someone who was part of the 3D Realms team when Bombshell was first imagined, I am excited to see what they have in store for us with their game.
Finally, while Gearbox decided to keep terms of the settlement confidential, they did confirm that “Gearbox Software is the full and rightful owner of the Duke Nukem franchise.”
[Source: Gearbox via Games Industry]
