Somebody has bet on Duke, which, 18 years after the last good Duke Nukem shooter, is something of a surprise. Interceptor Entertainment, developers of the Rise of the Triad remake, have bought 3D Realms, developers of... well, bits of Duke Nukem Forever. The two are rumoured to be collaborating on an upcoming action RPG, called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction . They're also co-defendants in a lawsuit over unlicensed use of the Duke Nukem IP . Both have got plenty in common then, which makes for a solid foundation in their future relationship.
The deal was announced by Danish site Borsen.dk , and confirmed by Frederik Schreiber, the CEO of Interceptor Entertainment, over Twitter.
Yes, we have indeed acquired Apogee/3D Realms. We will be giving an official statement tomorrow. @InterceptorEnt , @RiseoftheTriad March 2, 2014
It's important to note that, by Apogee, Schreiber's referring to Apogee Software, Ltd, which is the legal name of 3D Realms. Interceptor haven't bought Apogee Software, LLC , an external publisher that holds the licenses to the old Apogee library.
It'll be interesting to see what the revived 3D Realms are going to be working on. The studio's new CEO, Mike Nielson, talks about a history that includes Duke Nukem, Commander Keen and Shadow Warrior, but - in the complicated world of game rights ownership - much of 3D Realm's catalogue now belongs to others. That's a legal argument that could potentially flare up further with regards to Gearbox's lawsuit over Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction.
Interceptor are due to release an official statement on their purchase later today. We'll update this post when that happens.
UPDATE: A press release confirms that SDN Invest, the part owner of Interceptor Entertainment, have acquired Apogee Software, Ltd d/b/a 3D Realms. There is still no information as to what either developer is working on.
