3DREalms (Duke, Max Payne) is no more

[mkiker2089]

I'm not sure if others are aware, or care even but the company is gone. There are a lot of rumors going around and some say that T2 killed them somehow by either pulling funds, or more likely just refusing to pay for something that would never actually be finished anyway (Duke). I have no concrete news but I have been skiming the forums they host. The studio shut down quickly and all assets are being liquidated. T2 holds publishing rights for Duke and other things from them I think.

Honestly this isn't surprising to me because

a- I'm a T2 stockholder and I have an entire book here (proxy vote time) about how the company is streamlining and working to recover it's stock value. The board was under a lot of fire for not selling to EA so they have to prove themselves with quick publishing and decent return. Pipe dreams need not apply.

b- 3dRealms should have had Duke out long ago. You can't run a buisiness that way. It's like going to McDonalds and them telling you that they'll give you a Bic Mac maybe tomorrow because they want to invent a new Mac sauce.

[Steve T Power]

Some reports are saying that Apogee software as an independent unit is still continuing, and up to now Take Two hasn't funded any of its development, they merely own the publishing rights. So 3D Realms has been killed as a label, and the Duke team may still be working.


Strangeness abounds!

[mkiker2089]

This is weird. I thought they meant the "new" apogee that was founded this year. From what I can tell that company is now claiming Apogee's history as well. If you look at their website you can see the press release where they say they are new but the company history tells a different story. Perhaps they bought more than the name? Confusing indeed.

DNF is until further notice dead as far as I know. T2 had publishing rights and I know that they refused to pay an advance royalty on the game. Beyond that is speculation.

The Duke Trilogy will continue on so hopefully DNF will be picked up as well. Maybe T2 has some legal wranglings they can do to get rights to the product as is and finish it. I hope so at least but as for now it seems unlikely. I want word from T2 but I don't expect it. They have no reason to say anything and anything they can say would make them look bad at a critical time. They have too many lawsuits against them now to chance it.

Was the Apogee thing planned for this then? Is someone at 3drealms playing an elaborate scheme out?

[mkiker2089]

More rumors abound. It is being said that Scott, on of the two owners, formed Apogee so he could secretly make a new company minus the DNF fiasco and also minus his partner. Just rumors, but it seems plausible.

[Steve T Power]

The main thing is that Apogee never really ceased to exist. 3D Realms was their "marquee" brand, but it was essentially always still Apogee Software.

Lets see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

[mkiker2089]

Steve, what you aren't getting is that 3D Realms (legal name Apogee Software, Ltd.) is shut down. 3Drealms wasn't just a branch like SCEA is part of Sony, it WAS the company.

Apogee LLC is a NEW company founded this year. Scott is an owner of it. Apogee Ltd that Scott and George owned also know as 3Drealms is closed for good. Get it, it's clever how by playing the name game Scott is making people think it's the same company with a long and glorious history when all he's really done is transfer his assets. If it was planned the Scott is clever and a bit of a tool at the same time. If it's coincidence then he's lucky.

At least that's how it looks to me. When Apogee resurfaced the press releases from 3Drealms stated clearly that it was a separate and new company and that it was newly formed so that 3Drealms could focus on new projects. Being that both are / were privately owned however there is no legal paperwork that I can find.

[Steve T Power]

Steve, what you aren't getting is that 3D Realms (legal name Apogee Software, Ltd.) is shut down. 3Drealms wasn't just a branch like SCEA is part of Sony, it WAS the company.

Apogee LLC is a NEW company founded this year. Scott is an owner of it. Apogee Ltd that Scott and George owned also know as 3Drealms is closed for good. Get it, it's clever how by playing the name game Scott is making people think it's the same company with a long and glorious history when all he's really done is transfer his assets. If it was planned the Scott is clever and a bit of a tool at the same time. If it's coincidence then he's lucky.

At least that's how it looks to me. When Apogee resurfaced the press releases from 3Drealms stated clearly that it was a separate and new company and that it was newly formed so that 3Drealms could focus on new projects. Being that both are / were privately owned however there is no legal paperwork that I can find.

No i got that. But what has actually happened is that the offices, development space etc is all still there and being used, but the 3D Realms marquee is gone. 3D Realms as an entity is gone. Apogee soldiers on. The new startup wasn't so much a transfer of funds as an insurance policy.

[mkiker2089]

I get it I think. I thought I got it before but now I think that I get it

Seriously, this is weird. I can't find the old press releases anymore about Apogee being "new".

So is this a hoax? Everyone is making impassioned pleas about being out of work and all.

I don't want to sound like an alarmist but sometimes I wonder if the entire DNF thing was a hoax in itself. If you release a game it gets buzz for a while, or worse fails. If you keep it as a flagship unreleased then you keep rolling in free press. At this point nothing short of the second coming of (insert religious character here) will live up to what people expect from DNF.

[Steve T Power]

I get it I think. I thought I got it before but now I think that I get it

Seriously, this is weird. I can't find the old press releases anymore about Apogee being "new".

So is this a hoax? Everyone is making impassioned pleas about being out of work and all.

I don't want to sound like an alarmist but sometimes I wonder if the entire DNF thing was a hoax in itself. If you release a game it gets buzz for a while, or worse fails. If you keep it as a flagship unreleased then you keep rolling in free press. At this point nothing short of the second coming of (insert religious character here) will live up to what people expect from DNF.

I think it was a hoax to keep certain people in money. If Take Two didn't directly fund DNF, someone had to be banking it. Could be Midway style shenanigans. Who knows. Then again, they could have been a spirited bunch of creators who didn't want to release a title until it was "just right". More likely it was all just a scam, and we'd never see DNF.

[mkiker2089]

The sad thing to me is that if they had released it and made it decent they could have reaped mad money, and started a new one.

I see it as a worst case scenario with the better case being GTA. It had enormous hype and high expectations after 3. It was doomed to disappoint but instead they put total effort into it and hit one out of the ballpark. Now they can sit back, enjoy success and plan the next one. T2 will continue to roll in the money, 3Drealms will continue to skate by, if they skate by at all after this.

[TemporalWisdom]

Quite a trick to run a previously successful company into the ground when the industry as a whole is booming.

[Steve T Power]

Some video has popped up online that showed the game had actually made some genuine progress, and was actually looking pretty good.

Maybe with enough of a following, these vids and other assets may garner some interest in Take Two in getting this thing done.

It's kind of funny how much the vibe around one game can change overnight. DNF went from being a punchline to a commodity AFTER 3D Realms is shuttered.

[mkiker2089]

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/47098 ... em-Forever

So Take Two is now suing 3Drealms AKA Apogee, but not the new Apogee which is unrelated. The new Apogee better distance themselves from the old name game shenanigans. What's going to happen? 3D is no more so it's not like the have money to pay fines, but they do have a back catalog of IP that could be considered of some value. The Max Payne franchise has been good for T2, and Duke has possibility. There's no word yet as far as I know of what T2 wants though, I'm just speculating.

The thought of T2 getting the Duke IP however makes me do the happy dance.

I wonder if the execs in charge could be in for legal trouble or if they are hidden behind some legal smokescreen. Everything I've read says that George himself owns the Duke IP but the "new" Apogee also seems to claim it as well as the old Apogee. This could be confusing but I know one thing. T2 is no stranger to the courtroom so I can see them keeping George in court for the rest of his life if he doesn't settle soon. It's their style, they are still dragging out the Hot Coffee suit after all.

[mkiker2089]

I may be the only one keeping up with it, but more news. Apparently Apogee aka 3Drealms aka the "old" Apogee isn't closed. They claim it was a misunderstanding and that they meant the development team was fired but the studio remains. This is a direct result of the lawsuit. Sounds to me like they are in a bit of a pinch and are trying to wiggle out, but that's just a guess. They claim T2 is trying to bully them out of the franchise.

I still hope T2 gets rights to the IP but that's just my dream. I'm not sure if that's even possible. I'm not even sure that 3D owns it. GT Interactive used to but they are long gone now I think.