Gearbox: more Duke Nukem coming

By Fred Dutton Published 30 August, 2011

Pitchford teases Forever follow-up.

Gearbox Software is planning a new Duke Nukem game, CEO Randy Pitchford has confirmed.

As reported by Kotaku, Pitchford announced at PAX this weekend that the studio had picked up the Duke Nukem brand with the intention of eventually making its own entry in the franchise.

"And then soon… I know that you guys figured out that, when Gearbox acquired the franchise, we didn't do it just to make sure we could all play Duke Nukem Forever, but because we wanted to make our own Duke game," he said.

"Soon, we'll talk about that, but not today."

This tallies with comments earlier this year from publisher Take-Two, when CEO Strauss Zelnick promised, "you will see future Duke IP coming from this company."

Elsewhere during his PAX presentation, Pitchford also discussed the 'mixed' response to Forever, insisting he was proud of what Gearbox had achieved.

"I hope some people kind of enjoyed it. When I dug through all the stuff that [the original development studio] 3D Realms had done, I expected a trainwreck and I was actually quite pleased.

"I had a lot of fun with it. It was fun for me, and I'm really glad that we not only rescued the franchise but took the time to make sure the world could see what those guys had been doing for all of those years. And I'm also proud of the things we added to it. I think we did some things to make it a little better."

He also talked up the post-launch improvements Gearbox has made to the game, as well as the upcoming DLC expansion, due out later this year.

"And we're not giving up. We've updated the game. I know the load times weren't very good on the 360 and so some of the patches improve that. I don't know if you guys noticed.

"I think you're really going to like the DLC coming out that's being developed by the guys that actually made Duke Nukem Forever - the guys at Piranha, the guys at Triptych. The Triptych guys are the ex-3D Realms developers. And they're still working at our studio on the 10th floor, and they're committed. They're going to go all the way."

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 9 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • riceNpea #1 9 months ago

    maybe, just maybe if Gearbox get to make it from start to finish the Duke might get the game he deserves.

  • Gnort #2 9 months ago

    Due out in 2029?

  • weejok #3 9 months ago

    Good to hear, I enjoyed Duke Forever for what it was but I'm sure Gearbox could make something special from scratch. They obviously have a lot of love for the character/franchise

  • captain_Carl #4 9 months ago

    Nah thanks

  • Ryze #5 9 months ago

    No ta.

  • kinky_mong #6 9 months ago

    I'd rather you concentrated on Borderlands or any other game you make rather than dedicating more resources to this piss poor relic of a character Gearbox.

    I also wish Randy Pitchfork would learn to STFU because his constant soundbites of bullshit about Duke Nukem have undone a lot of the good will I previously had for him.

  • IronGiant #7 9 months ago

    Don't bother, seriously don't.

  • Kano-11 #8 9 months ago

    Gearbox are a good dev who can make a half decent FPS'(Bordlands, Brothers in arms). I think it's pretty evident that the build of DNF they got from 3D Realms was a mess and they couldn't really have done much with it. I think a brand new duke game made from the ground up could really be something. It's what the fans deserve!

  • Incarta #9 9 months ago

    No thanks.

  • jetsetwillie #10 9 months ago

    more shit being shat out

  • Haloboy #11 9 months ago

    Come on Gearbox be sensible here. Just scrap any future Duke plans and for the love of god please scrap that Furious 4...I have no words for it still. All we need from you now is clear to see. Borderlands 2, Colonial Marines and the next true BiA.

    Yours faithfully

    Gamers with Taste.

  • NobbyWallis #12 9 months ago

    Haloboy=Cock.

  • the_dudefather #13 9 months ago

    Maybe it's a threat?

    'Buy Borderlands 2 or I swear to god I'll turn this car around and you'll be playing Duke nukem forever 2 instead!'

  • King_Edward #14 9 months ago

    Sweet. But please no modern bullshit this time. Give us the throw back we want, there's no place for Duke in the now. Your audience is living in the past, so cater too them.

  • cianchristopher #15 9 months ago

    Uh, since when do Gearbox have the caché to get people excited about their products?

    They're a decent-ish, mid-tier, so-so development team - with a spotty track record and little in the way of major success.

    So.... thanks, but no thanks!

  • Pehmu #16 9 months ago

    Good. Hopefully it will be an honest old-school shooter. In DNF you could see the game was trying to be old-school but didn't have the balls carry it till the end. They just had to add that annoying regenerating health system for modern gamers.

    Screw regenerating health, cover-based shooting, hand-holding, tunnel shooters and heavy scripting. Come up with something new, and if you can't do that, just go old-school instead.

  • ajaxpliskin #17 9 months ago

    Yes Pehmu! YES!!

  • digitalash #18 9 months ago

    Why does anyone give a toss about the "Duke IP"? He's just an OTT 80s Action hero parody. If you really want that in your game that bad Randy, why not just make up a character called Albert Shwarzbigger or Jean Claude Stallone or Nuke Dukem? If there's one thing that DNF confirmed, it's that the character doesn't have some kind of magical special sauce that's worth millions of dollars.

  • Negotiator1 #19 9 months ago

    Stick Duke up your arse Pitchfork.

  • Subdominator #20 9 months ago

    The next game is rumoured to be "Duke Begins". If that's the case, then the whole IP acquisition shines in a different light. It means that Gearbox only gets the IP if it fulfills 3D Realms' previous contracts first. When 3DR ran out of money and needed more, there were rumours of Take 2 demanding a new title called Duke Begins from them. They would get 2 million upfront for the develiopment, use that money to finish Duke Nukem Forever and afterwards develiop Duke Begins from their own money/DNF royalties. As we know the money still wasn't enough, 3DR went bankrupt. Back then Take 2 supposedly tried to get the IP for themself. Seems now like the only way to secure the franchise for Gearbox is to not only finish DNF, they have to create the prequel as well. And only then will they actually own the IP and make money with it.

  • Phoenisis #21 9 months ago

    Reading that headline gives the feeling that Gearbox is threatening me.

  • Paul_cz #22 9 months ago

    I enjoyed DNF. Bad game, maybe, but it was fun, even if the later levels were too grey.

    But DNF made by Gearbox+Triptych with competent leadership ? Hell yeah!

  • CaptainQuint #23 9 months ago

    @Nobbywallis

    With a handle like that you're in no position to be calling folk "cock", know what I mean? Dickhead.

  • DUFFKING #24 9 months ago

    I did suspect that they just bought up the rights, patched the game up so it would run then released it so they could make their own duke game.

  • NobbyWallis #25 9 months ago

    @CaptainQuint

    I bow to your superior wit sir.

  • Stratix #26 9 months ago

    Serial link co-op Duke 3D was just about the best gaming experience I could imagine back in the day.

    I really liked the idea of portable medipacks too. Why did they take that out?

    Make a game a bit more like Duke 3D and a bit less like DNF and they might receive a little less hate in the future.

  • DrStrangelove #27 9 months ago

    It was hard to overlook DNF's unfortunate development background. It just felt like there were those pieces of an unfinished puzzle rotting around for many years, until they finally decided to put them together into something that's at least remotely publishable.

    I absolutely loved Borderlands, so I think Gearbox has the potential to make something good if they don't have to rely on old luggage. But obviously no pre-order for me this time.

  • oerhoert #28 9 months ago

    ^ :D


    I liked DNF quite a bit. There, I said it. Very much interested to see what Gearbox would do with a follow-up.

  • Dave52 #29 9 months ago

    It'll be very late, yet somehow feel like it was made 10 years ago. Idiots will buy it.

  • MaxFN #30 9 months ago

    Gearbox, you fucked up Duke, judging by trailer you already fucked up Aliens, THANK YOU RANDY for sodomizing my childhood icons, YES PLEASE! Give more horrible games so i can puke all over my room. All gearbox games are horrible crap, Randy Pitchford, i hope you fucking die, Gearbox, you are worst game developers i know, most overrated and most horrible developers to date.

  • whoyouknow #31 9 months ago

    NO

  • metroid455 #32 9 months ago

    um no thanks ill pass

  • Captain_Jono #33 9 months ago

    The first comment is right on the money. If anyone's going to make a decent Duke game it's the people who produced Borderlands. Frankly, that's what they should have done with Forever; bought the license but made the game from scratch in house. Though had they done so no doubt the internet would rage at them for it not being the "true" DNF!

  • username84 #34 9 months ago

    Gordon Freeman could kick Dukes ass in a second. And he wouldn't have to be constantly spouting tired 90s cliches while he was doing it. Leave the dinosaur to romp happily in nostalgia land. Duke is a drab one dimensional character far outclassed by today's standard of gaming.

  • Sicho #35 9 months ago

    I said it many times and I'll say it again: DNF was an awesome game!
    Please: more of the same!

  • Liquidoodle #36 9 months ago

    Quite happy about this, I enjoyed it, it wasn't perfect but it definitely wasn't 3/10 or whatever eurogamer gave it.

    To me it's like the super mario brothers movie, everyone absolutely loves to slag it off and say horrible things about it but when it actually comes down to it they weren't really that bad :)