I have repeatedly written on here about the often abysmal level of game industry management. Duke Nukem Forever has just been cancelled after over 12 years in development. You have to ask yourself what the project management people at 3D Realms were doing. And as this was presumably being paid for by Take Two you have to ask about their financial management and external developer management. The whole farce does not reflect well on how the industry is sometimes run.
Permalink
“We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title,” said Take-Two’s Alan Lewis in a statement.
Source: BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8037688.stm
Perhaps they weren’t funding its development. Makes you wonder who was, though. 12 years is an incredibly long time to run a studio working on a game that’s raising no revenue during that time, and remember, 12 years is the time since it was announced, not started. The actual time in development is probably closer to 14 years.
Permalink
Take Two have repeatedly confirmed over the years that they haven’t put a dime into Duke Nukem Forever – the whole thing has been internally funded by 3D Realms. TTWO execs have made increasingly frustrated statements in the past couple of years about having no knowledge of a possible release date, no information from inside the studio and generally being left in the dark just as much as anyone else.
Their deal was solely to take the finished game, whenever that might appear, and put it on retail shelves – it’s a bit of a shame that the whole farce is reflecting so badly on them, given how marginal their involvement was.
Permalink
A pity, as it seemed it was going to be a megagame…