The most recent published photo of the 3D Realms team.

MAY 6, 2009 • Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms suddenly ceased operations without explanation. At first thought to be a publicity stunt for the sequel that has been in development since 1997, the shuttering of the studio was real and resulted in a lawsuit by Take-Two Interactive on April 15 for breach of contract. The lawsuit also asked the court to force 3D Realms to protect Duke Nukem Forever assets. Take-Two acquired distribution rights to the game in 2000 for $12 million from Infogrames.

Impact: 3D Realms is a pioneer in the game industry, where they helped drive the growth of an early digital distribution model back in the early 1990s. At the time, this was known as the shareware model where users could download a few levels of a game for free and if they liked it purchase the full version. However, in recent years, 3D Realms has become best known for the vaporware that is Duke Nukem Forever. At one time, Duke Nukem Forever was supposed to be a big money earner for publisher Infogrames, and later Take-Two Interactive. However, after 12 years, Duke Nukem Forever had become best known as an insider joke.