Join us now as we journey into a world of magic and whimsy. A land jostling and heated with madness and chaos. A kingdom twisted and warped by regurgitated lies, half-truths and mirrored reality, all moulded into a lonesome form that would send you on a voyage of insanity with a single blink of its crusted eye.

Welcome to… ‘The Rumour Zone.’

Sources “claiming to have knowledge of the situation” have told Kotaku that the massively delayed, currently on hiatus Duke Nuke Forever is now in development at Gearbox Software, creators of the Brothers in Arms series of World War II shooters and, more recently, Borderlands.

According to one source (which wishes to remain anonymous), the game will release under the name of Gearbox, while Take-Two Interactive still hold publishing rights to the title. The original developer of Duke Nuke Forever, 3D Realms, will most likely act as a producer of some kind.

Another source claims that a playable demo of Duke Nukem Forever will be released later this year, which would mean the game is pretty far along.

When Kotaku contacted Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford for comment regarding the sources’ information and the rumour, he declined to shed any further light on the subject, save to say that he might be able to better clarify the situation further at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle later this year.

3D Realms co-founder and director of Duke Nukem Forever’s development, George Broussard, did not respond to Kotaku’s requests for comment.

So while this is still mired in heavy rumour territory, we’ll have to wait and see what information pops up at PAX this year.

Source: Kotaku