Duke Nukem sparks fresh court battle between Gearbox and 3D Realms

Gearbox is suing 3D Realms over its decision to announce a new Duke Nukem game.

The IP was acquired by Gearbox in 2010 as part of the deal that saw Randy Pitchford’s studio rescue the game from its unprecedented stint of development hell.

However, Kotaku reports that 3D Realms earlier this month announced a top-down RPG called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. And Gearbox isn’t happy.

"Apparently, after selling its Duke Nukem IP rights to Gearbox in 2010, [3D Realms] sought to privately convince others that the sale never happened," the lawsuit says, adding that the studio and Interceptor "colluded to misappropriate and make infringing use of the Duke Nukem trademarks and copyrights owned by Gearbox".

The lawsuit also describes 3D Realms as being "famously incapable" of delivering Duke Nukem Forever even after a 12 year development cycle, that the code Gearbox inherited was "sorely deficient" and that "the mountain of problems subsequently uncovered by Gearbox cannot be captured in this single pleading".

In 2012 3D Realms attempted to sue Gearbox over alleged unpaid royalties relating to Duke Nukem Forever, although it subsequently abandoned these efforts.