We Almost Got A Duke Nukem 3D Remake

Duke Nukem was the go-to mature-themed FPS of the 1990’s. It had big guns, awesome one-liners, killing of huge monsters and sported pixelated babes; everything a young adult could want out of their video game. When Duke Nukem Forever was finally released in 2011, fifteen years after Duke Nukem 3D, the much-anticipated title fell flat, and most of the appeal was lost. That is, until a group of dedicated modders called “Inceptor Entertainment” tried to remake the game in Unreal Engine 3.

Unfortunately, according to Penny Arcade, Gearbox has shut down the project. While Gearbox, the owners of the property, is fully within their rights to cease any production of their copyright, it doesn’t make sense to prevent a free game made by the fans for the fans to be denied opportunity for release.

Frederick Schreiber, head of the project, reportedly felt like it was an attempt to hide the fact that Duke Nukem Forever did so poorly in its reviews by critics. It makes sense, esspecially considering Gearbox executives were initially impressed with a demo provided to them.

"The puzzle seemed to come together. If we showed this to people they might not spend money on Duke Forever, which was badly reviewed. They have big investments from Take Two, and of course they spent a ton of money on the Duke franchise, so it’s their responsibility to make as much money from Duke Forever as possible. I can definitely see the decision from their side.We felt like why were we being punished, and why were the fans being punished, because we had created something that was too good? That was how the whole thing ended. We split apart, Gearbox and Interceptor, and went to do our own things."

It’s a shame that those at Gearbox can’t take their lumps and stand by their titles, and instead hide such a creative Duke Nukem project to protect their identity. This will surely cut off any intentions of an Aliens: Colonial Marines remake.