3D Realms Shuts Down! Oh noes!

If it's not the dev's fault who's is it? It's not like 3DR was at the mercy of some big evil corporate publisher.

Nontheless plenty of people are out of employment through no fault of their own at the moment, I don't see why 3DR employees should get extra help.
 
MuToiD_MaN said:
How do you know it was dev's fault?
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They had over a decade to finish the game. Instead they ran their company into the ground.
How is it not their fault? They haven't developed a game since the mid 90's.
 
Anyone who's worked in software knows that projects fail for more reasons than the people actually writing the code. At least, it's been my experience that the decisions of management and products affect a project's timeline more than the people writing the code.

Also, judging from the timeline that was posted, there seemed to be about 4 years of development dormancy.
 
MuToiD_MaN said:
Anyone who's worked in software knows that projects fail for more reasons than the people actually writing the code. At least, it's been my experience that the decisions of management and products affect a project's timeline more than the people writing the code.

Also, judging from the timeline that was posted, there seemed to be about 4 years of development dormancy.
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It doesn't mean we should have sympathy for them over the thousands of others who've lost their jobs. Their company went under, tough-shit, that's life. I'd rather support local people who've lost their jobs rather than someone a thousand miles away who worked on a failed video-game once.

3D Realms was run by programmers btw, that was the problem, they knew FA about how to run a good business, or at least project manage.
 
I wouldn't give them money. But I thought the goal of raising the money was to purchase the IP from them to finish it our/themselves, not donate to help them finish, in essence, "bailing out" 3D Realms.

I'm not saying it would work or that they'd agree to that either...
 
Well I'd be pretty pissed if I dumped $12M into a company and got bupkis in return. Guess it rides on whether the promise of a result was in the contract.
 
How could they not be pissed off? They invested millions into it but got nothing in return. 3D Realms rightfully deserves all the crap that they are getting and then some.
 
I'd be pissed off too investing that much time and money into a project. Not to mention being told to "sufu" by the CEO of 3DR. Well done T2 perhaps by suing they may get the IP for Duke.
 
PimpinPenguin said:
I'd be pissed off too investing that much time and money into a project. Not to mention being told to "sufu" by the CEO of 3DR. Well done T2 perhaps by suing they may get the IP for Duke.
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67.211.54.131. No need to sue.
 
Oy, vey. The drama continues. If i were Take 2 i wouldn't waste my time with this washed up developer.
Who cares if they release or not. It'll probably end up being mediocre, just like Doom 3 and Quake 4.
 
Haha, yeah, both those games made huge bank.


And so will DNF. Some day. I never lost hope. And I never will.
 
Lucid said:
Or not.
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A couple of (useless) guys and a postal box might constitute 'a company' on paper, but without a shippable product what are they more than a bankruptcy waiting to happen? The industry scuttlebutt is that prior to the staff lay off GB had been knocking on the doors of Valve, ID, Epic etc, looking for funding and meeting polite rebuffs every step of the way. If they do find a sponsor, they are so vulnerable given their game probably only has another year or so's worth of saleability to it, that any deal they do get for financing will probably screw them over anyhows.


Lucid said:
Which both sold like hot cakes, iirc. ;)
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D3 might of made some cash, but Q4 underwhelmed AFAIR. DN is so culturally irrelevant these days that short of a sudden revival of dire 80s action films there really isn't an audience out there for it. Its only really the hardcore playing audience who remember the old games tbh.
 
Don't be silly, if DNF is released and it's by any means not complete suckage it's going to sell like crazy.
 
PimpinPenguin said:
I'd be pissed off too investing that much time and money into a project. Not to mention being told to "sufu" by the CEO of 3DR. Well done T2 perhaps by suing they may get the IP for Duke.
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Offcourse you could step back and take a look at the bigger picture

The statement then lays out 3DR's version of the tangled series of events which led to this month's dramatic developments. It claims that Take-Two has not given 3DR a single cent in signing bonuses or advances for DNF, but instead paid the $12 million mentioned in the suit to defunct publisher GT Interactive. (The publisher was absorbed by Atari parent Infogrames in 1999.) 3DR contends that, in 2008, it was paid a $2.5 million advance by Take-Two for "an unannounced game," and the only money it ever received for DNF was a $400,000 advance from GT Interactive.



To date, 3D Realms claims it has sunk over $20 million of its own money into Duke Nukem Forever, and that at of the end of 2008, it realized it required outside help to continue. "Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game," read its statement. "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."
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It'll probably end up being mediocre, just like Doom 3 and Quake 4.
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There is a market for everything
 
mortiz-Redux said:
Don't be silly, if DNF is released and it's by any means not complete suckage it's going to sell like crazy.
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A franchise whose last outing was over 13 years old and one that's become completely culturally irrelevant. Short of a major multi-million dollar advertising campaign (ala Fallout 3) and multi platform release I'd say 'selling like crazy' is optimistic to say the least. Sure the hardcore amongst us (who played the original) might be tempted to pick up a copy (if nothing more than to marvel at the slow carcrash), but judging by the leaked footage the game has 70 - 80% scoreline written all over it, and that just isn't going to interest players who've gotten used to games like Halo, CoD4, Stalker, Crysis, Farcry 2 etc etc.

They've sunk $20M into the game. Assuming the game retails for say $50 ($60 is too much imho) the retailer takes half and the publisher another quarter (gestimates) they'd have to shift about 2 million units at full price to make even a small profit (let alone enough to finance another game). That's not taking into account advertising costs etc etc
 
Kadayi said:
A franchise whose last outing was over 13 years old and one that's become completely culturally irrelevant. Short of a major multi-million dollar advertising campaign (ala Fallout 3) and multi platform release I'd say 'selling like crazy' is optimistic to say the least. Sure the hardcore amongst us (who played the original) might be tempted to pick up a copy (if nothing more than to marvel at the slow carcrash), but judging by the leaked footage the game has 70 - 80% scoreline written all over it, and that just isn't going to interest players who've gotten used to games like Halo, CoD4, Stalker, Crysis, Farcry 2 etc etc.

They've sunk $20M into the game. Assuming the game retails for say $50 ($60 is too much imho) the retailer takes half and the publisher another quarter (gestimates) they'd have to shift about 2 million units at full price to make even a small profit (let alone enough to finance another game). That's not taking into account advertising costs etc etc
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1. The "leaked" footage was just some stuff created by one of the designers in order to show off some of the scripted events etc, not parts of the finished game, nor was the video edited/polished for public consumption. You may as well have judged Half-Life 2 based on the leaked source code.

2. I think you're underestimating the buying power of hardcore gamers. Duke Nukem is exactly the type of game that will sell well because everything about it appeals to the Halo era players. The childish humour, the overtly masculine hero, the silly one-liners, the over the top setting and enemies, the fact that it's a no frills FPS that doesn't require much thought to play etc. It wouldn't take much convincing them that this is their type of game.

3. Marketing wouldn't be an issue for 3DR. You seriously think that if DNF was actually being released the gaming press wouldn't be all over it? It's not like 3DR are going to have to buy space in gaming mags. DNF will be hyped to death for free, simply because it's DNF and a ingrained, legendry, part of gaming culture. The press would be all over it.

4. Notice I make no assumptions about the quality of the game. Of course it could suck and if it sucks it'll probably tank. I can't say it'll be good but you can't say it's going to be bad either. It's entirely possible that 3DR could pull the game out of the quagmire and put something decent on the shelves. Sure, it may not live up to the hype for us who've been waiting for the game for 10 years, but it could still be good enough to sell very well.
 
I can actually see where Kadayi is coming from, besides, 3DRealms has absolutely no resources at their disposal atm, I bet.

How would they even advertise the game? Since advertisement is a big big part on getting a game to people. TakeTwo is pretty pissed at them, so I highly doubt they'd lend a hand.
 
Many mags would give their left nut to get the inside scoop on DNF. 3DR may not have the money for TV spots and billboards, but it'll have far more word of mouth than pretty much any game you care to mention.
 
kupocake said:
Even Penis Guillotines?

I haven't found a volunteer willing to test my prototype anyway.
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You havent been to the right places of the internet then. I've seen things... terrible thing...
 
mortiz-Redux said:
Many mags would give their left nut to get the inside scoop on DNF. 3DR may not have the money for TV spots and billboards, but it'll have far more word of mouth than pretty much any game you care to mention.
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DNF is a failed game from a failed game company whose last "hit" was a game that came out 13 years ago. There is nothing, nothing, that DNF could have that cost them $20 million to make, and yet somehow remained unfinished. It's called "incompetence" and 3DR seems to have it in spades. It's ridiculous how far people will go to defend some has-been hacks for the sake of nostalgia.

There are very few game companies that consistently put out quality games. Valve and Blizzard are two of them. 3DR is not, thus, I could care less about their fate.

Nobody cares, magazines are getting enough stories and "scoops" out of reporting on the ridiculousness that is 3DR. Nobody is going to give them charity, because quite simply they don't deserve it.
 
Rico said:
DNF is a failed game from a failed game company whose last "hit" was a game that came out 13 years ago. There is nothing, nothing, that DNF could have that cost them $20 million to make, and yet somehow remained unfinished. It's called "incompetence" and 3DR seems to have it in spades. It's ridiculous how far people will go to defend some has-been hacks for the sake of nostalgia.

There are very few game companies that consistently put out quality games. Valve and Blizzard are two of them. 3DR is not, thus, I could care less about their fate.

Nobody cares, magazines are getting enough stories and "scoops" out of reporting on the ridiculousness that is 3DR. Nobody is going to give them charity, because quite simply they don't deserve it.
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This.

I'm sorry mortiz-Redux but you're living in a rainbow dream if you think anyone save a few hardcore fans give a shit about DNF these days. Its been too long, and gamings moved a long too far. Also advertising is absolutely essential, because if you don't have strong advertising you get drowned out by everyone elses.
 
The recent history of 3D Realms talks about incompetence. It will not be missed.
 
True words Paolo. 3DRealms should sell their remaining assets and gtfo to do something useful.
 
Kadayi said:
This.

I'm sorry mortiz-Redux but you're living in a rainbow dream if you think anyone save a few hardcore fans give a shit about DNF these days. Its been too long, and gamings moved a long too far. Also advertising is absolutely essential, because if you don't have strong advertising you get drowned out by everyone elses.
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I know at least 15 people in real life who would immediately buy DNF if it ever came out, most of them dont even play many games. I think it would do much, much better than you'd think.
 
Maybe, but not enough to even make as much money as they claim to have spent on it (20+ million dollars).

And let's not forget your non-gamer friends probably wouldn't have been able to run this mythical game, because for some reason they kept switching engines whenever something prettier (or something that looked more like plastic) came out. I seriously don't see how these people expected to stay afloat as a company, even if they had been able to release their game (I'm of the mindset that the initial money was embezzled and that they were actually just pumping out promos to get money from publishers/investors)
 
So long as it plays halfway decent, I am 100% positive it would be $20+ million game. Even crysis made it to that eventually, even less face time with the press and gaming community, higher system requirements, being PC only, and being a shit game.
 
Krynn72 said:
I know at least 15 people in real life who would immediately buy DNF if it ever came out, most of them dont even play many games. I think it would do much, much better than you'd think.
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Plenty of people were all fired up for Daikatana as well I recall, but when the reviews came in and it was clear it was a turd of the highest proportions all that enthusiasm rapidly evaporated. People aren't going to put down $50-$60 on a game unless it reviews well and from what I've seen I don't think DNF would review that well. It might tick all the boxes for an on rails shooter, but unless there's some unseen innovation in there it's unlikely to break the magic 90% that is OMG gold. 70 - 80 % tops assuming the plot's good, etc, etc. There's a big difference between selling a million units in the first week of release and selling a million units over six months from the bargain bins. DNF has 'I'll wait till a price drop' written all over it.
 
So basically you're assuming its going to be a piece of turd if it releases, and i'm assuming its not. Since neither of us have seen the game in action, nor know much of anything about it beyond what we can assume from the leaked media... lets call it a draw. Who knows if it would have/will sell well.
 
It won't sell well because it didn't come out :-P
 
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