So…what exactly has Interceptor bought then? A lawsuit against Gearbox??
They already had that. Instead they’ve got George “one game” Broussard?
Nevermind. Now it’s called Bombshell.
That looks so very terrible.
For those who don’t follow him, George had a mild stroke yesterday. Expect a full recovery. For all their faults remember these are real human beings…
Horrible news about George Broussard. I made a thread yesterday; luckily, he looks set to make a full recovery. He’s someone I really admire. The gaming scene would be pretty dull without guys like him.
I don’t think he’s involved with this project or current incarnation of 3D Realms.
As a huge 3D Realms fan, it saddens me to say this but that’s a truly awful trailer. I really don’t know what they were thinking releasing it? It completely fails to convey that it’s an isometric action-rpg. It looks like a college animation reel.
The screens look way better. It’s certainly been eventful. Two month-long countdowns, a character swap, a lawsuit, and studio acquisition. You can still see the Duke trappings in the shot: The aliens, Ripper, EDF clones, color palate.
Yeah that thread got no traction and went off the front page in less than a day it seems.
New trailer dropped. It’s super cheesy, and most importantly, a huge improvement over the debut teaser.
Where’s the duke?
He’s hanging out at Gearbox, minding his own business. I can’t see Duke coming back for a while. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said that publishing Duke Nukem was “a misguided decision on my part.” Gearbox is clearly a studio Take Two trust and love to work with but bringing Duke back is a huge risk for a publisher.
I think Gearbox will sell the IP back to 3D Realms/Interceptor at some point. They have their hands full with Homeworld, Borderlands, Battleborn and I believe they still own the Brothers in Arms series. I don’t think have the bandwidth to work on a Duke sequel.
That game looks bad.
I assume a male hero would have the game named Hunk then?
About a month ago, the Gearbox vs. Inteceptor/3D Realms lawsuit was settled through mediation.
“Bombshell will never become something else,” said Interceptor Entertainment CEO Frederik Schreiber in an email exchange with Eurogamer. “We’re extremely proud of what we have accomplished with Bombshell so far, and are 110 per cent committed to the game and the universe we have created around her.”
The thing is, Duke Nukem is still a highly recognized brand name. More over, its a highly recognized shooter brand name, a safe genre for sales.
Even its brand’s well deserved infamy for having such a long development life and disappointing (to say the least) final product will contribute to discussion of any new Duke Nukem release.
So, long story short, the name has value. Put it on a competent FPS and the publisher will have at least a modest hit.
I don’t think the shooter genre is that safe. Rage bombed. Bulletstorm didn’t perform well. DNF performed okay. Granted, two of those were new IPs, but they were by established shooter developers and were promoted with huge marketing campaigns. 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.
The CEO of Take Two didn’t have to say anything negative about Duke, especially considering 2K has an amazing relationship with franchise owner Gearbox. Gearbox is working on Battleborn and probably Borderlands 3 for them. I don’t think they have the bandwidth to make a new Duke game internally, especially if they’re still working on whatever Brothers in Arms/Furious Four turned into (unless it’s been completely dropped by Ubi). What independent developer would Gearbox partner with? If Take Two wouldn’t publish the next Duke game, who would? The only future appearance of Duke I can see in a Gearbox property would be as DLC character skin.
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.
A boutique publisher like Devolver would be the best home for Duke.
Word up.
Fair points, all. I still view the brand as similar to getting an endorsement from Bob Barker and/or Morgan Freeman. There has to be a way to make that work, right?
OK, its not that much of a slam dunk, but from my perspective, names sell games.
I would love to see another Duke game but I just don’t see it happening.
If anyone’s interested, Duke4 member Altered Reality recently updated his amazing DNF museum, detailing every screenshot, piece of concept art and video ever released for the game. 15 years of content!
Last I checked, Rage had sold 2.3MM+ million copies. That’s not a bomb.