After more than a decade of being stuck in developer limbo, Duke Nukem Forever is finally done. This was announced by game developers, 2K Games and Gearbox Software, stating that the game had gone “gold”---meaning it was already completed.
“Duke Nukem Forever is the game that was once thought to be unshippable, and yet here we are, on the precipice of history,” said 2K Games president, Christoph Hartmann.
“Today marks an amazing day in the annals of gaming lore, the day where the legend of Duke Nukem Forever is finally complete and it takes that final step towards becoming a reality,” he continued.
3D Games creative director, George Broussard, called the development and final release of Duke Nukem Forever “legendary” and an “epic journey”.
“Duke Nukem Forever and its journey to store shelves is legendary. It's an epic tale of four game developer studios that banded together and did the unthinkable, and shipped the unshippable. When you play this game, you will be reminded of that epic journey at every turn and in every small detail of the game,” said Broussard.
The launch of Duke Nukem Forever is set for June 10th internationally and June 14th in North America. The game is available for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Those who pre-ordered the game or purchased the Borderlands Game of the Year edition will have access to the demo, which will be released on June 3rd.
Duke Nukem Forever has been in development since 1997 and a number of jokes have been formed about its much delayed development timeline. It has been called Duke Nukem “fornever”, “(taking)forever”, and “Neverever”. Some have noted that the initials DNF also stand for “did not finish”, which is racing car parlance to refer to drivers or cars which did not cross the finish line and did not complete the race.