Take-Two Suing over Duke Nukem Forever

[Kreij]

As if the poor title didn't have enough bad press being vaporware for so long ...

Rockstar parent Take-Two is suing 3D Realms and Apogee Software for the continued delay of Duke Nukem Forever.

3D Realms closed its doors last week and let staff go, having first announced the development of Duke Nukem Forever in 1997.

"Apogee continually delayed the completion date for the Duke Nukem Forever," said Take-Two, reports Bloomberg. "Apogee repeatedly assured Take-Two and the videogaming community that it was diligently working toward competing development of the PC version of the Duke Nukem Forever."

Take-Two originally paid USD 12 million for the publishing rights to the game, and in 2007 entered into a second agreement with Apogee.

source : gamesindustry.biz

 

[i nEeD HeLp]

did they start making the game in 1997?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I don't blame them. Take-Two was expecting a product that was never delivered. From Take-Two's perspective, Apogee was running a scam.

 

[W1zzard]

"paid USD 12 million for the publishing rights"

so whats wrong? unless the contract said "game has to be done in x years" they got what they paid for, the publishing rights. are they even allowed to reveal that number? all contracts i know consider that confidential information

 

[JATownes]

"paid USD 12 million for the publishing rights"

so whats wrong? unless the contract said "game has to be done in x years" they got what they paid for, the publishing rights. are they even allowed to reveal that number? all contracts i know consider that confidential information

Agreed. If you invest in a product that never gets completed, you can't sue. That is the risk in investing. I own stock in AMD, can I sue if their stock doesn't rise?? No. Investing is a risk. About confidentiality, I agree, but I guess the other party to the contract is no longer a valid entity so all confidentiality is off?? IDK just a guess.

Edit: I think I have read 3-4 threads just today about tech companies filing suits against each other. This is stupid. Get back to making me sick hardware!!!

 

[ownage]

12 Million is enough reason to give it a shot.

 

[RevengE]

I don't see how they can sue them anywise. They closed down shop, I doubt they have alot of money left over.

 

[Kreij]

You are correct W1zz, that Take-Two simply secured the publishing rights for DNF for $12M, which I assume was paid to Apogee.
However, I am sure that for their money, Take-Two assumed there would eventually be a product to publish. With the demise of 3D Realms (3D Realms is/was a division of Apogee) the likelyhood of the product ever being released drops considerably. If no DNF is forthcoming, then Apogee is in breach of the contract.
It seems to me that Take-Two would have a very strong case in US courts (Apogee is based in Texas). Just because a specific date or time is not mentioned in the contract, there are usually laws defining "reasonable expectations" when dealing with contracts.
I think that Take-Two has been more than generous with the amount of time they've give Apogee to produce a product for them to publish.
Take-Two has the right to sue Apogee/3D Realms for not only the $12M, but also 12 years worth of interest on the money. Whether they win or not, is up to the courts.

 

[CDdude55]

Take two just needs to finish it up and get it out the door.

 

[MilkyWay]

they apparently want the source code to be handed over to them too so they can finish the game

but that means they'd be able to do whatever they liked to it

i dont care as long as its polished up im sure like by easter 2010 it could be finished and have stuff added to it even if they got it started now they could finish it by Christmas maybe January February

the physics parts interest me

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Publishing rights means there's something already available to publish; however, Apogee never sent them what they needed to publish it so the contract didn't go through. Take-Two is not only out their 12 million that they advanced, they're also out all profit they were expecting.

Even if Take-Two wins, they can only get as much as what's left over from the remains of 3D Realms. Something is better than nothing however. If you want Duke Nukem Forever to come out one day, you should hope Take-Two wins. 12+ million would go a long ways on DNF's development.

 

[Kreij]

Even if Take-Two wins, they can only get as much as what's left over from the remains of 3D Realms.

It depends. As the parent comany, Apogee (who is still in existance) may be liable for the debt incurred by 3D Realms, especially if they were a party listed in the contract.

Also, FordGT, if Take-Two wins and gets their 12+ million they will no longer retain the publishing rights and Apogee/3D Realms will be 12+ million poorer and will almost certainly cancel the project completely.

I think the only way we will ever see DNF is if Apogee can fend off Take-Two for awhile longer and get the game into the hands of another developer who can finish it.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Apogee will probably settle out of court with Take-Two. My guess is Apogee will throw everything DNF (and some money) at Take-Two so Take-Two can finish it.

Apogee would have to pay the interest and some extra becaue a finish product wasn't placed in their hands as agreed upon but Take-Two won't be needing all 12 million back that way.

 

[Triprift]

DNF= Did not finish.

 

[Kreij]

100 monkeys typing random characters on keyboards could have come up with a completed version of DNF by now.

Anyway, I do hope it gets released some day (preferrably in my lifetime) as I was looking forward to playing it.

 

[Triprift]

With take 2 i think you got a better chance than with 3d realms seriously what were they doing for 12 years giving each other piggyback rides.

 

[Kreij]

From the way I understand it, they had to keep starting over and redo their graphics engines because the technology was passing them by faster than they could complete the game.
Seems kind of odd that all the other studios manage to get product out in a reasonable timeframe. Even the companies whose release date mottos are "When It's Done" don't take that long.

 

[Triprift]

Im actually glad in a way it wasnt realesed years ago because with the amount of times they changes the engine i always thought it would be a big disapointment.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

From the way I understand it, they had to keep starting over and redo their graphics engines because the technology was passing them by faster than they could complete the game.
Seems kind of odd that all the other studios manage to get product out in a reasonable timeframe. Even the companies whose release date mottos are "When It's Done" don't take that long.

They need to understand that pretty graphics only encompasses about 10% of the market. It's better to release a game with 5 year old graphics than not release the game at all (from a business and customer satisfaction standpoint). Vaporware makes no one happy.

 

[TrainingDummy]

According to Scott Miller (co-founder of 3D Realms) 3D Realms self-funded 99.999% of the game, and says Take-Two never gave them the $12million <link>