Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/15/taketwo_sues_apogee_over_dnf/
Take-Two sues over death of Duke Nukem Forever
'Nobody steals our checks... and lives!'
Posted in Games, 15th May 2009 21:33 GMT
What you need to know about cloud backup
The abrupt meltdown [1] of PC gaming's most infamous vapourware, Duke Nukem Forever, isn't going to pass without some legal fallout.
DNF's intended publisher, Take-Two Interactive, is accusing the defunct dev house 3D Realms of contract breach for failing to deliver the long-long-awaited game.
3D Realms was supposedly designing DNF since 1997 (way back before there was even such a thing as Google or the International Space Station), but terminated the project and shuttered its studio on May 6.
Take-Two is now pointing its lawyers towards Apogee Software, which created the 3D Realms label in 1994.
According to Bloomberg [2], Take-Two claims in a lawsuit filed May 13 that Apogee "continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever" and "repeatedly assured Take-Two and the video-gaming community that it was diligently working toward competing [sic] development of the PC Version of the Duke Nukem Forever."
The lawsuit alleges Take-Two acquired a $12m publishing rights agreement in 2000 to punt the game. The pact was extended again in 2007 for an unspecified amount.
ShackNews [3] has reportedly got its hands on court documents for the case, which demand 3D Realms not alter or leak the game's assets while the lawsuit plays out. ®