Duke Nukem may be coming home again. 3D Realms has been acquired by Saber Interactive, which is a subsidiary of Embracer Group, the same holding company that recently purchased Gearbox Entertainment. Since Gearbox owns the rights to Duke Nukem, the path toward a new game being made has opened, though no announcements have been made yet.
Will there be a new 3D Realms Duke Nukem game?
3D Realms made Duke Nukem a video game icon with the release of Duke Nukem 3D and its expansions. However, the tumultuous development of Duke Nukem Forever torpedoed the company and Duke’s reputation. Unfortunately, the project being handed over to Gearbox didn’t help things as the final product is one of the most derided games of all time.
While 3D Realms may end up creating or publishing a new Duke Nukem game, we’re more likely to see it come from another of Embracer’s new acquisitions: Slipgate Ironworks.
Slipgate Ironworks (formerly Interceptor Entertainment) was formed to develop a fan remake of Duke Nukem 3D and even got a non-commercial license from Gearbox to do so. Unfortunately, when Duke Nukem Forever was so poorly received, the license was revoked. The reason being that the fan game was an overall better product, and Gearbox didn’t want it to destroy sales opportunities for Forever.
Interceptor Then went on to work on a new game in the series called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction with 3D Realms. Unfortunately, 3D Realms didn’t actually have the rights to make this title, and Gearbox filed a suit to halt work on the project.
Gearbox allegedly doesn’t have any interest in continuing the series, so it would make sense for Embracer to allow another studio to have a crack at it. Given the way the stars are aligning, we may see a new Duke Nukem game published by 3D Realms, and Slipgate Ironworks may finally get the chance to develop it.
