Both the digital version and the standard boxed retail version of Duke Nukem Forever PC will support Steamworks, Gearbox Software has confirmed. As community manager Chris Faylor puts it on the studio’s official forums, this means DNF PC will always be married to your Steam account, no matter how you bought it originally, allowing you to download the game whenever a previous install goes poof.
At this moment, it’s unknown if other digital retailers like Direct2Drive will offer up DNF for sale, since the title is so integrated with Steam, but if they do it certainly won't be the first time. Some games use Steamworks differently, but in general, developers use the service for auto-updating and achievements, as well as cloud-based saves, and match-making functionality.
And in other Duke news, a couple of pre-order offers have recently been revealed. If you reserve the game at Wal-Mart, you’ll get a rather uninspired Duke Nukem Forever Trucker Hat with a black bill and a subdued logo. If you pre-order at GameStop, you’ll get the “Duke’s Big Package” DLC, which includes:
- In-game EGO boost
- Big Head Mode
- Lady Killing War-Drobe T-Shirt Pack (for multiplayer)
GameStop is also promising access to something called the “First Access Club,” which will give you early demo access, access to “exclusive assets,” and even "developer access..." somehow.
Duke Nukem Forever is still slated for a release May 3, 2011, but as always, we'll believe that when we see it.