After the highly publicised closure of 3D Realms two weeks ago, and the subsequent news that Take-Two, the publishing rights holder for the perpetually in development Duke Nukem Forever, had filed a lawsuit against 3D Realms for not producing a game after the publisher’s $12 million investment, 3D Realms’ CEO, big man George Broussard, has finally released a public statement to quell the tide of angry, disappointed and indifferent fans:

“Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing. 3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise.

“Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6, while we regroup as a company.

“While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.”

Broussard then goes on to provide his side of the Take-Two $12 million story, revealing that, not only has 3D Realms never directly received any money from Take-Two for the development of Duke Nukem Forever, but the $12 million in question was paid to the now defunct GT Interactive, 3D Realms’ publishing partner at the time.

Scott Miller, co-founder of Apogee/3D Realms, confirmed the claim, saying: “We didn’t get a penny of that money. This, along with so much else, is 100% spin, being eaten up by those who have no clue whatsoever. But, we cannot talk yet. We will, soon…”

Broussard does concede that $400 000 was paid to 3D Realms by GT Interactive to work on Duke Nukem Forever, and that Take-Two paid 3D Realms a $2.5 million advance for an unannounced project, but nothing towards the continued development of the floundering Duke Nukem Forever.

Over the period of Duke Nukem Forever’s developement, however, 3D Realms has used $20 million of their own cash to continue development of the game, while negotiations with Take-Two were recently underway to provide funding in order to help finish the game:

“Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game,” says Broussard. “In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized. Take-Two was well aware that 3DR needed the funding to continue the DNF game development.”

Broussard continues: “Suddenly, after months of negotiations, Take-Two materially changed the parameters of the proposed funding agreement. 3DR informed Take-Two that it could not financially afford the changes Take-Two was suggesting and would be forced to release the team if an agreement was not reached.”

“Take-Two made a last-minute proposal to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team,” Broussard reveals in the statement. “Take-Two’s proposal was unacceptable to 3DR for many reasons, including no upfront money, no guaranteed minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game.

“From 3DR’s perspective, we viewed Take-Two as trying to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise in a ‘fire sale.’ Those negotiations fell through on May 4, a deal never materialized, and the DNF team was sadly released a few days later.”

Mentioning the lawsuit filed against 3D Realms, Broussard says that the suit is simply “a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise,” after it was revealed that Take-Two were requesting a copy of the Duke Nukem Forever source code and assets for safe-keeping for the duration of the legal wrangling.

Through the lawsuit, Take-Two were while also trying to make sure 3D Realms didn’t make any further game assets public. A New York judge has apparently denied Take-Two’s request, while 3D Realms promises to fight hard:

“We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher,” reads the statement.

Source: GameSpot