Duke Nukem is a series of shooters forgotten by time, at the peak of the series (Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996) it was regarded as one of the best shooters of its time. However Duke Nukem Forever was originally under development as a Playstation one era console, and the developer, 3D Realms, had delayed it for more than twelve years, before eventually abandoning the project for financial reasons. At this point, the publisher 2K Games moved the project to Gearbox Software, a developer usually known for their most recent original game, Borderlands. Gearbox Software has confirmed a release date of June 10 2011 (or June 14 for North America) for the project.
As we draw close to the release date of Duke Nukem Forever, an employee at Gearbox Software, Randy Pitchford estimated the amount of time put into the project across its fourteen year development cycle. “I have estimated that 3D Realms invested between 3,500 and 4,500 man-months of effort into the game, a lot of which has been lost to the ages, meanwhile, by the time Gearbox ships the game we’ll have put in another 2,500 man months of effort. I’ve never been involved with a project of this magnitude.” this implies that Duke Nukem Forever has taken at least 6000 man months to develop, which, in hours is over one million hours. This is a massive amount of development for any project, and really does show the scale of Duke Nukem Forever
Will Duke Nukem Forever show us the 1,000,000 hours of work that has been put in and revive the franchise? Or will it crash spectacularly on release under the weight of its ambition and outdated technology? Only time will tell.
