Gearbox retains ‘Duke Nukem’ rights after settlement with 3D Realms

The argument over who rightfully owns the storied Duke Nukem franchise has been settled, bringing an end to a three-way legal dispute involving Gearbox Software, 3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment. Interceptor then announced that it meant to develop a Duke Nukem game, “Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction“, based on the characters, content and intellectual property Gearbox claimed it owned. In any case, Nielsen said, “to secure the future of Duke, 3D Realms has agreed with Gearbox that a single home serves the IP best”. We never intended to cause any harm to Gearbox or Duke, which is why we immediately ceased development after Gearbox reached out. I’ve been a huge Duke fan for many years, and the original Duke Nukem 3D was a big influence on me and my career in this industry that I love. In 2014, 3D Realms and Rise of the Triad remake studio Interceptor Entertainment announced top-down shooter Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction.

After being caught in a legal tug of war for almost a year and a half, the storied (and battered) Duke Nukem franchise has finally ended up in the hands of Gearbox Software.

The development cycle of Duke Nukem Forever is somewhat infamous in the gaming world. 3D Realms followed this up by, er, saying exactly that but have now recanted that statement in the resolution of the lawsuit.

Randy Pitchford, CEO of GearBox and former developer of Duke Nukem at 3D Realms, responded to both statements. Despite all of that, Take-Two says the game turned a profit.

Details of the settlement weren’t released, though it seems that it’s business-as-usual for Gearbox’s ownership of Duke Nukem and 3D Realms’ development of Bombshell.

Gearbox, known for creating the Borderlands series, is now free to proceed with the Duke Nukem franchise as they see fit.

However, he admitted that Gearbox would probably need to rope in development support from another studio.