Duke Nukem Forever Lawsuits Settled

Take-Two and 3D Realms have recently settled their respective lawsuits regarding the Duke Nukem series out of court, according to a report at Gamasutra.

The brief documentation can be read here (courtesy of IGN), and confirms that Take-Two’s lawsuit and 3D Realm’s subsequent countersuit have both been “dismissed with prejudice in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement executed by the parties on May 14, 2010.”

Precise details of the “settlement agreement” are not yet known, and neither Take-Two nor 3D Realms are talking about it at this point. The Duke Nukem trademark is still owned by 3D Realms.The developer laid off most of its staff last year, prompting the initial Take-Two lawsuit, so whether it has the resources to continue development on Duke Nukem Forever at this point is in doubt. Hypothetically, though, there are now no legal barriers preventing the game’s release.

In an interesting aside, an industrious poster at 3D Realms’ official forums noted that even though this legal decision dates back to May, there was no mention of it in Take-Two’s financial report to shareholders released on 8 June.