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Rumor: Gearbox Software To Finish Duke Nukem Forever

Look, I know this sounds weird. Just stay with me.

If you thought the Duke Nukem Forever saga was over when 3D Realms and Take-Two settled their legal differences, you were (possibly) wrong. Kotaku is reporting that a build of the fabled shooter is now in Gearbox Software's hands, and the full game will eventually come to market.

Sounds like a long shot--and it feels like it is, considering this is DNF we're talking about, a game that has been in development for over a decade--but apparently this rumor is crashing against some sort of truth. Speaking with Kotaku, Gearbox head honcho Randy Pitchford said that he would be able to "clarify" (the pub's words) this alleged involvement at PAX West in Seattle. He declined direct comment.
 

No Caption Provided
 
Gearbox Studios is the developer of Borderlands and currently working on Aliens: Colonial Marines. It has been connected with rumored high-profile titles before, including a continuation of Halo, a game based on the film Heat, and a Duke Nukem prequel.

Take-Two still owns the publishing rights to DNF, a game it has presumably lost a ton of money on as its development stretched out over eons. And Gearbox and Take-Two have worked together before, most notably with Borderlands.

While I'd like to just shake my head and say "no way" about this rumor, despite Pitchford's weird comment on the matter, this game already has a legacy linked with the strange, so we'll have to wait and see what the truth is on this latest development. 

207 Comments

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c_rakestraw

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Edited By c_rakestraw

I'm starting to think the game's "Forever" subtitle is a sign of some sort. Like we'll be forever doomed to hear rumors about it's possible completion or something.

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Meowayne

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Edited By Meowayne
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AzureSkeith

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Edited By AzureSkeith

i want this game so bad, but i also think its time to just let Duke R.I.P.

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PappaDukes

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Edited By PappaDukes

Fuck's sake.
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Nick

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Edited By Nick

I never stopped believing.
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KuribosShoe

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Edited By KuribosShoe
@kuz101: he's not ONE OF THE GUYZ OH NOOOO
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Ratfoot

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Edited By Ratfoot

Always bet on Duke.

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CL60

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Edited By CL60
@Jonny7892 said:
" Great Brad N has further stained the reputation of GB by posting RUMORS from KOTAKU why, why, why? "
Shut the hell up. People like you need to just get the hell off of GiantBomb. No joke. Stop crying about news. Rumors are news. Especially when it's something about DNF. Gotta keep in alive!
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monkeyman864

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Edited By monkeyman864

DNF= Did not finish= duke nukem forever

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mmjuno

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Edited By mmjuno

Even IF this is ever released... with a 10 year+ development time, I find it hard to believe it will have the slightest chance of making enough in sales to even come close to breaking even, let alone make any sort of profit.

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deactivated-5bce12b22bc03

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This will never be settled until Duke can finally park his bricks on some alien toilet. It must happen.

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BunkerBuster

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Edited By BunkerBuster

This fiasco is like a Ponzi scheme for games. They keep throwing money at it while pretending that it's a good investment and it will never exist or make them money.

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mossman93

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Edited By mossman93
@Jonny7892 said:

" Great Brad N has further stained the reputation of GB by posting RUMORS from KOTAKU why, why, why? "

I'm pretty sure Brad isn't just posting a rumor.  Since he's best buds with Anthony Burch (Gearbox Writer) , he probably has some inside knowledge.  He just can't come out and say it.
 
Also, since Burch is possibly  writing this game, look for Duke to be much more pretentious.    
 
Brad...When are we going to see a Giant Electric Bomb Hydracast?
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MistaSparkle

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Edited By MistaSparkle

Ahm...what?

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NikoAlexander57

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Edited By NikoAlexander57

F@#kin called it. Always bet on Duke.

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anarchcorp

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Edited By anarchcorp

I just hope this comes out, just so the longest saga of development hell finally comes to an end.

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Gabriel

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Edited By Gabriel

NO ONE CAN FINISH THIS GAME, IT'S CURSED.  
 
 If this game comes out in needs to be what the Matt Hazard game should have been, a riff on itself and games in general.

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Vafthrutnir

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Edited By Vafthrutnir

Well from the last footage that got leaked/shown it looked fine. Nothing that would make me buy it over Crysis 2 or Portal 2 but still something I would eventually buy.

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takua108

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Edited By takua108

THE PLOT THICKENS!

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ZipCrash

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Edited By ZipCrash

I agree with most of the people here. Either finish it and put it out already or let it die. I'm so tired of hearing about DNF.

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Vorbis

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Edited By Vorbis

I hope not, I like Gearbox and don't want them to get destroyed over such a dead franchise.

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harrisonave

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Edited By harrisonave

No Duke.  No.  I won't be hurt, again.  Not anymore.

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vidiot

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Edited By vidiot
Who want's this game? WHO?!   
 
Duke is the most generic hero ever, he hasn't had games to evolve since Duke 3D! What's the edgy quality that separates Duke from the pack? Boobs? Space aliens that look like pigs? They're "pig-cops", get it? 
 
There have been so many different, superior gamesjust in conceptthat have been released. 
Think of all the project in this industry that couldn't get funding. Yet this...thing keeps getting money? Seriously?! You think the Halo and Call of Duty generation, even know who Duke is? Or cares?! I don't even think this game is commercially viable at this point! 
 
It's all just! UGH! LET IT DIE!
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TheHT

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Edited By TheHT
@CL60 said:
" @Jonny7892 said:
" Great Brad N has further stained the reputation of GB by posting RUMORS from KOTAKU why, why, why? "
Shut the hell up. People like you need to just get the hell off of GiantBomb. No joke. Stop crying about news. Rumors are news. Especially when it's something about DNF. Gotta keep in alive! "
Seriously! I suppose every time Ryan mentions a rumour on the podcast that fellow thinks he's staining the rep of GB also.
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memo

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Edited By memo

kill it or let it die

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MetalGearSunny

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Edited By MetalGearSunny

Gearbox? huh.

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Zippedbinders

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Edited By Zippedbinders
@CL60: Rumors aren't news. An announcement is news. Rumors are speculation and hearsay. You need to calm down. I'm not the biggest fan of  Brad Nicholson, and re-posting Kotaku articles isn't the smartest thing to do, given their reputation as a whole.  Brad Nicholson is too good to report on something Kotaku said.
 
However, I cannot deny the Brad N/Anthony Burch thing, they did both work for Destructoid, and Burch is currently working at Gearbox. But even assuming Brad N has insider information, I'd prefer them to just wait and report when its actually an announcement one way or the other.
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madroxcide

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Edited By madroxcide

This is just the game that refuses to die isn't it?  They really just need to let it die.

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AngeTheDude

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Edited By AngeTheDude

Pics or GTFO

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CL60

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Edited By CL60
@Zippedbinders said:
" @CL60: Rumors aren't news. An announcement is news. Rumors are speculation and hearsay. You need to calm down. I'm not the biggest fan of  Brad Nicholson, and re-posting Kotaku articles isn't the smartest thing to do, given their reputation as a whole.  Brad Nicholson is too good to report on something Kotaku said.  However, I cannot deny the Brad N/Anthony Burch thing, they did both work for Destructoid, and Burch is currently working at Gearbox. But even assuming Brad N has insider information, I'd prefer them to just wait and report when its actually an announcement one way or the other. "
I disagree, rumors are news to me. People who constantly hate on Brad  because he posts video game information on a video game site piss me off. No I don't need to calm down. These people need to shut the hell up and stop compalining about something pointless.
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HitmanAgent47

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Edited By HitmanAgent47

I'll wait and see.

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chstupid

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Edited By chstupid

ALWAYS BET ON DUKE
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Oldirtybearon

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Edited By Oldirtybearon
@vidiot: I want this game. 
I want this game because Duke Nukem 3D was a great shooter and funny as hell. It was low-brow, dirty, toilet humour, but it was still funny. 
 
Duke's satirical misogyny and general dick-baggery was also highly uncommon at the time of 3D's release. Whether you want to admit it or not, there isn't anyone else in videogames quite like Duke.  You call him generic but the truth is that Duke is a composite character based on 80's action heroes. He's got charisma and personality to spare. You can't call someone like that "generic" when there really is nobody else in games like him. 
 
Generic would be something you've seen a dime-a-dozen times. A space marine, an elf with a bow, RPGs (both J and W), and military shooters can feel and look quite generic. Nothing about Duke Nukem's world has ever felt that way, however.
 
Oh and if Gearbox is finishing this game, then count me in as a day one purchase. 
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Cold_Wolven

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Edited By Cold_Wolven

Why is it so important to make a game staring an out dated hero of the 90's? Sorry I prefer a shoooter with a bit more depth then a two dimensional character just going around levels blowing stuff up and saying the typical repetitive lines with every kill. Shooter as a genre has moved much further then what the Duke Nukem games were, they are outclassed and outdated and DNF won't change that.
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citizenjp

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Edited By citizenjp

Meh.

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deactivated-5fb7c57ae2335

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For me to have one fucking ounce of interest in this game, it needs to have everything Yahtzee described in his (fictitious) review.

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Brackynews

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Edited By Brackynews
@CL60 said:

I disagree, rumors are news to me. People who constantly hate on Brad  because he posts video game information on a video game site piss me off. No I don't need to calm down. These people need to shut the hell up and stop compalining about something pointless. "

You are right.  Also, I like your coining of "com-Palin-ing". :)
Neither Brad nor Kotaku need defending so I won't waste words on that. Here's why this is a newsworthy article: The "announcement" is that Pitchford is saying something about DNF at PAX. 
Without a legitimate business reason, he should have denied that kind of talk outright. Pitchford is a savage mofo that speaks his mind. And when Totilo and McWhertor use "sources who wished to remain anonymous" that's not some bum on Twitter, that's someone on the inside that they actually listen to.  Something is afoot in Forever-Never Land.

@BunkerBuster said:

" This fiasco is like a Ponzi scheme for games. They keep throwing money at it while pretending that it's a good investment and it will never exist or make them money. "

There used to be jokes that DNF would be released for the Phantom; and look how that ended. But we're still talking about Duke. It has now gone beyond a business scam, it is cultural property in our circles. And I'm sure any final product will be a tremendous disappointment, but that's life in the major leagues.
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plasmafrag

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Edited By plasmafrag

I give literally no fucks about this goddamn game anymore and I haven't for about 9 years.

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Vanek

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Edited By Vanek

Oh great, it begins again.  I, like so many others, am so fucking tired of hearing about DNF.

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TheWarrior8806

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Edited By TheWarrior8806

why wont this game just die

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NakAttack

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Edited By NakAttack
@HitmanAgent47 said:
"

I'll wait and see.

"
don't hold your breath
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vidiot

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Edited By vidiot
@KingWilly: So he's not generic, he's just combination of...80's...action movie...cliches....Alright
So there's "nothing else like Duke"...Except, for all the things that he borrows from... -_- 
Some of which, were technically already parodies and jokes within themselves...
 
I'm all for parodies and Duke Nukem 3D, I agree, had them in spades. Like you said: They were really funny for it's time. There was nothing else that was so politically incorrect, in-your-face, so over-the-top. That was over fourteen years ago though! Don't get me wrong: I'll be first in line to defend how awesome Duke Nukem 3D was, but times have changed and unless Duke is getting a serious injection of much needed something else, count me out. Recently I re-played Duke Nukem 3D when it was released on XBLA, my memories of the game were far more happier than what I remembered. There were parts that seemed so juvenile, I could personally barely relate to it. I still enjoyed it, and played through the entire campaign again, but man-o-man: I am not interested in a continuation in this thing.
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HitmanAgent47

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Edited By HitmanAgent47
@nk19: i'm just saying I don't belive it until I see more about it. I want more new stories, or there isn't any proof except speculation.
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SumDeus

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Edited By SumDeus

It probably won't even be any good. Just kill it already.

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kwyee

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Edited By kwyee

They need to change the name.  In racing, DNF means "did not finish".  
 
Gearbox working on it makes me slightly more interested (b/c of their work on Borderlands) but not by much.

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benred66

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Edited By benred66

JUST LET IT DIE MY FUCKING GOD >:(

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thehexeditor

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Edited By thehexeditor

Duke's a dinosaur. Time to hang up the red wifebeater and head to the museum.

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jakob187

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Edited By jakob187

As long as they keep the game old school and poking fun at everything else out there while being inventive in the way it handles its shooting at times, I'm still onboard. 
 
Old school PC shooter fans NEED this game to finally come out.

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DaveC524

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Edited By DaveC524

I'm calling it now, that this game will look dated as all hell, and won't even be any good.

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Synthballs

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Edited By Synthballs
@Death_Burnout said:
" Don't play with my heart. "
I've been teased for pretty much half my life over this game. I've wanted it so bad. 
 
JUST FUCKING MAKE IT.