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3D Realms' logo used since 2014
3D Realms Entertainment, Inc. is a video game publishing company founded in late August 1994 as a brand of Apogee Software, Ltd.. Apogee Software itself was founded in 1987 by Scott Miller, who is still active in 3D Realms' operations.
After its 1995 debut with publishing Terminal Velocity, 3D Realms gained international attention and popularity for the in-house developed 1996 shooter Duke Nukem 3D. In the same year, they released Stargunner. The second and final game fully developed by 3D Realms was the 1997 shooter Shadow Warrior. Further titles involving 3D Realms' intellectual properties were co-developed, produced, or licensed to other companies. The most successful such titles were Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, and Prey (2006).
On 6 May 2009, 3D Realms' internal development team was laid off while they were working on Duke Nukem Forever. The game was ultimately finished by Gearbox Software with additional development from Piranha Games and Triptych Games in 2011, ending the notorious 14-year development period. Around that time, Gearbox Software acquired the Duke Nukem IP from 3D Realms.
A separate company, Apogee Software LLC acquired the rights to the name and several intellectual properties previously owned by 3D Realms as the legal successor of the original Apogee Software. One of the results of this acquisition was the 2013 remake of Rise of the Triad developed by Interceptor Entertainment.
Alongside the new Apogee and Interceptor, 3D Realms attempted to produce a Duke Nukem title named Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, which caused Gearbox to file a lawsuit against them, as they had not given those companies permission to use the license for the project. The game was quickly cancelled as such and the project was overhauled as Bombshell in 2014 and ultimately released in 2016.
On 2 March 2014, the Danish holding company SDN Invest, who were the owners of Interceptor Entertainment, purchased 3D Realms, with the company's founder and chairman Mike Nielsen becoming the CEO of 3D Realms.[1] An internal development team was formed once again, and was assigned to the Shadow Stalkers project that is currently in an unknown status. 3D Realms announced Ion Maiden in 2018 and WRATH: Aeon of Ruin in 2019. Over the former, 3D Realms is facing a lawsuit from the the holding company of Iron Maiden for supposed intentional mimicking of their intellectual property, because of which the game was renamed to Ion Fury.
In November 2019, they announced to be the publisher of the game Ghostrunner and another yet unrevealed shooter game.
References[ | ]
- ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (3 March 2014). "Interceptor Purchases Duke Nukem Publisher 3D Realms" (archived). Game Informer. Retrieved 5 March 2014.