[Update 2] Added extreme shaky cam footage of people playing Duke Nukem Forever at PAX Prime, below: [End of Update 2]

[Update 1] More information emerging from PAX Prime regarding Duke Nukem Forever added a little further below. [End of Update 1]

The rumours were true! Gearbox Software will indeed complete development on 3D Realms’ Duke Nukem Forever, and pick up where that studio left off.

Duke Nukem Forever, the official sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, is due to ship within the next year (with some reports of a launch in 2010) and will be showcased at PAX Prime this weekend in Seattle.

The game will be published by Take-Two, the original publishing rights holder.

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal recently, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said of Duke Nukem Forever’s tumultuous development period:

“Clearly the game hadn’t been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created. The approach and investment and process at 3D Realms didn’t quite make it and it cracked at the end. With Gearbox Software we brought all those pieces together.”

“It’s the game it was meant to be,” Pitchford added. “We’re in the polishing phase now. This is a game where we cannot make a promise we cannot fulfil.”

[Update 1]

From a demo given on the show floor at PAX Prime, it’s been announced that Duke Nukem Forever will release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC ‘sometime’ in 2011, while multiplayer has also been confirmed for the title.

[End of Update 1]

[Update 2]

[End of Update 2]

[Original Story]

The clues, hints, rumours, winks and nods are all pointing in the same direction.

Duke Nukem Forever will be re-unveiled at PAX Prime in Seattle during 2K’s event in under two hours.

We’re laying it on the line, and when the big news hits, we’ll update this very page with every bit and byte it can muster. It may be a good idea to refresh every so often to see what’s been added.

And while we wait for the official reveal, why not soak up some Duke-related imagery captured at PAX, as well as some info that’s streaming in:

This here is Randy Pitchford, boss of Gearbox Software. Notice the shirt he’s sporting?

Gearbox has recently (and in the long term) been rumoured to be finishing up development of Duke Nukem Forever.

The image above was linked from a Twitter posting by 3D Realms’ George Broussard, the man who headed up development of Duke Nukem Forever since its inception over ten+ years ago. In the tweet, Broussard wrote:

“I wanna see two things today. #dukenukem trending [on Twitter] and crashed servers.”

Broussard clearly expects something Duke Nukem-related to be announced today.

Do you need more visual confirmation? Well how about these standees found on the show floor at PAX?

Source: Pikimal Blog

Tags: 2kgames, 3drealms, dukenukemforever, gearbox, georgebroussard, taketwo