After the game had spent over a decade in the worst kind of development hell/limbo, Gearbox Software finally managed to finish Duke Nukem Forever and get it released. The game sucked, but at least it was out.

One of the stipulations of that entire arrangement was that Gearbox apparently got all future rights to the Duke Nukem IP. So when 3D Realms and Interceptor announce Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction for the PlayStation 4 and PC earlier this month, a top down isometric RPG starring the King, Gearbox was understandably unhappy. And now they are suing the two companies for unlawfully ‘exploiting [Gearbox’s] IP.’

“Recently — and without consulting the Duke IP’s actual owner, Gearbox — Interceptor announced its intent to develop a Duke Nukem game based upon the various characters, content and intellectual property owned by Gearbox,” the official complaint reads. “Apparently, after selling its Duke Nukem IP rights to Gearbox in 2010, 3DR sought to privately convince others that the sale never happened. The result is the unauthorized development effort that reportedly exists between 3DR and Interceptor.”

Well, more drama around a brand that is now entirely irrelevant. Stay tuned, I guess.

[Breach Notice]

A new teaser site was put up, called AllOutOfGum.com, and it had a slow count down that was teasing to something big on February 25; we knew this was related to Duke Nukem, not just because of the site name (because duh), but also because it had artwork showing an “Original Kick-Ass” pack of bubblegum, which, again, duh.

The site decided to try and engage the community by asking fans to boost the Facebook page to 10,000 Likes to reveal something that was only visible on the site as some alien code, but apparently, the code was easy enough to break, and someone managed to spoil the surprise for everybody:

“The King makes his next-generation debut in Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. A top-down action role-playing game for PC and PlayStation.

“Duke Nukem kicks ass across planets in an Unreal Engine-powered galactic adventure to save the President from an apocalyptic alien threat.”

Promised are many ‘series first features,’ such as tech trees and experience points, which sounds kind of sad when you think about it, but hey.

We’ll keep you posted when it is officially announced.

[Eurogamer]