3D Realms shuts down

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Infamous PC developer 3D Realms has shut down.

A post on the official 3D Realms forum, which has since been removed, from 3D Realms webmaster Joe Siegler, said: “It’s not a marketing thing. It’s true. I have nothing further to say at this time.”

The news puts the future of Duke Nukem Forever, a game officially announced on 28 April 1997, in doubt.

Duke Nukem Publisher Take-Two confirmed to Shacknews that it had not been funding ongoing development of the game.

A statement read: “We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title.

“In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever.”

At the time of writing, 3D Realms’ official website was down, as well as the official forums.

3D Realms’ closure comes as some surprise. In April this year George Broussard updated his Twitter with news that the team was “closing out a milestone this week”. He went on to say that the team had “71 more tasks to do and we started with probably 800-900.”

The news won’t, however, affect Duke Nukem Trilogy, currently being developed by Frontline Studios for the PSP and DS, according to publisher Deep Silver.

While we’re still awaiting official confirmation of 3D Realms’ closure, the various statements provided from Take-Two and Deep Silver make for stark reading.

What do you think about the closure of 3D Realms? Let us know in the comments section below.