FIGHT! 3D Realms Goes After Take-Two

3D Realms has issued a statement telling the world that it is not, in fact, dead, and that Take-Two's lawsuit is the upshot of an attempt to acquire the Duke Nukem property.

"Despite rumours and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing", a statement from George Broussard, the president of 3DR and co-creator of Duke Nukem, tells us. The statement does confirm, however, that on May 6th the team behind Duke Nukem Forever was, indeed, let go on May 6th.

3DR made a somewhat puzzling statement denying that it received the $12 million Take-Two claims it sent in the dev's direction for publishing rights for DNF. "Take-Two never paid 3DR advances or any signing bonus or any other funds related to DNF, up until July 2008, at which time they paid $2.5m in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game. This is the sum total Take-Two has paid 3DR in connection with DNF."

So... Take-Two paid $2.5 million in connection to another game, but that money is "in connection with DNF"? So, the money was for both the unannounced game and DNF? Presumably that's the case, but a bit of clarity wouldn't hurt when defending against a lawsuit.

For its part, the developer claims, "3DR put over $20m into the production of DNF". It also notes that, "Take-Two retains publishing rights for the DNF game, although 3DR retains certain rights to sell the game directly to the public."

3DR claims that Take-Two's lawsuit is the upshot of an attempt by T2 to acquire the Duke Nukem property in a "fire sale".

"Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game. In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized", the company stated. (Presumably those milestones are the ones that generated some news coverage thanks to this tweet.)

Take-Two allegedly "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."

"... We believe Take-Two's lawsuit is without merit and merely a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher", 3DR concluded.

Curioser and curioser...

^{Source: Kotaku}