Take-Two stock tanks, Duke Nukem Forever due by Dec. 31?

Stock plunges after dismal earnings report; SEC filing reveals 3D Realms has a $500,000 incentive to finish infamously delayed PC game by year's end.

Hail to the King...eventually.

Shortly after the stock markets closed yesterday, Take-Two Interactive announced a $50.2 million loss for its second quarter. Today when the markets reopened, the publisher took a beating worthy of that doled out in one of its more violent games. At the closing bell, its share was down $2.94, or 17.53 percent, falling to $13.83. The final figure was just $0.19 above the stock's 52-week low of $13.64, but the share value had sunk to $13.74 during the day.

But while traders panicked, analysts were more sanguine on Take-Two's fortunes. Friedman Billings Ramsey's Shawn Milne lowered his target price for the company $16 to $14, but maintained a "Market Perform" rating. UBS's Mike Wallace seemed indifferent to the news. "No excitement here," he said in a note issued today, in which he maintained his "Neutral" valuation of the company.

Of more interest to gamers was some major news buried in a 10-Q filing Take-Two issued to the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday. Toward the bottom of the form in the "Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements" subsection, was a major development regarding one of the most famous--or infamous--PC games of all time: Duke Nukem Forever.

According to the 10-Q, March saw Take-Two and 3D Realms renegotiate the original contract for Duke Nukem Forever, which began back in 1997. Under the original deal, 3D Realms was to receive some $6 million from Take-Two to develop the title. Now, the Texas-based developer will receive $4.25 million for the oft-delayed game.

"In March 2005, the Company [Take-Two] renegotiated a $6,000 contingent obligation due upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever through the payment of $4,250 and issuance of a promissory note in the principal amount of $500," read the 10-Q, listing figures in thousands of dollars--i.e. $4,250 = $4.25 million. "The payment of the promissory note is contingent upon the commercial release of such product prior to December 31, 2006."

[NOTE: The second mention of the completion figure to be listed mistakenly as "$4,250" without the caveat that the 10-Q figures were in thousands of dollars, even though the original mention of the figure was correctly put at $4.25 million. GameSpot regrets the error.]

242 Comments

  • Erwan-

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 8:51 am PT

    the long waiting !!!!!!!! When the Game launch!?!?!?!?!?!

  • Makaveli2A

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 7:52 am PT

    This game is fill with crap. They should of release it a long time ago.

  • skitzocyko

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 5:34 am PT

    bout time

  • Mr_Unko

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 5:19 am PT

    it will be sad if this game finally comes out and gamespot gives it a 2.4, butt I did like the one for the PSone and i actually beat it, so who knows...

  • bhwp

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 3:30 am PT

    Last screenshot Nov 1999, 7 years ago, I remember reading back in 2001 or so that it was slated for a christmad release, lol.. halfway through 2006 now... whats going on, no game could possibly take that long, I doubt it will ever be released, I mean, how do these guys eat they havent made a game in a long time, they didnt even make maxpayne 2, some other company did. I doubt 3d realms has anyone working for them anymore, hell they coulda been abducted by pig cops for all we know, we wouldnt ever know they never peep their heads out for 7 years

  • pedershk

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 2:33 am PT

    Heck, for $500,000, why not simply outsource the whole shebang to Bangalore and be done with it already? I'm sure they have the l33t Java or .Net skillz needed to complete it. Or, no, wait...

  • Al-7asoud

    Posted Jun 12, 2006 2:07 am PT

    If they're going to release DNF by the end of 2006 then they better do something about the engine..hey come to think of it they really should use the Source engine.

    Hold up...

    Nope, scratch that last part out. I mean what the hell they only have less than 6 months. It'll take a miracle for them to pull it off in such a short time. They have alot to do if it goes under Source, weapon physics, environment physics...boobs physics?!

    Hel no, they need to work and they need to work FAST.

  • DirkVDV01

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:57 pm PT

    Don't rush it, Duke, take your time. You might as well continue while you are at is, right? Why do I instantly think that it will be postponed again? If this game isn't top of the line vaporware, I don't know which game is.

  • Newsboy

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:32 pm PT

    I am shocked and excited! I've been waiting for this game for...god, I don't even remember how long it's been!

  • brianguy7

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:52 pm PT

    I was a young high-schooler when DNF was announced. Now I am done with college and have been married for years... can it take longer to make a cheesy computer game than it takes to make an adult person? What a joke. Utter insanity. Their videos 3-4 years ago looked solid enough; they should have just released what they had done. 10 years for a game isn't "great attention to detail and quality," it's dumb. A bunch of Croation dudes have released 2 low-budget Duke successors--see Serious Sam--in the time Duke's developers have not even been able to cough up a new screenshot. Duke, you're dust in the wind...

  • Ibacala

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 9:52 pm PT

    Sell the company. If they want to profit. The market is changing and theirs is no room for this game. Sell to EA or Microsoft games. Then pay their shareholders. This will fail like many games have done before.

  • VeXeN

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 9:20 pm PT

    I hope duke tanks.. in fact I am pretty sure it will

  • stewiegriffin78

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 9:11 pm PT

    Hope they don't come back...Take-Two is really starting to piss me off.

  • Dosbrian

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 8:29 pm PT

    The day Duke Nukem Forever comes out is the day the world ends.

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 8:29 pm PT

    The game was first due in 2000, 6 years later it still isn't here.
    Now it may just make it this year and looks to be rushed as 3D realms is being bribed to finish it this year.

  • BCstyle

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 7:30 pm PT

    Does this mean 3D realms are gonna rush to get it done and release it full of monster issues? I've been waiting for this game for a decade now, half of my entire life, but I don't want to buy it unfinished.

  • freestylus2000

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 6:35 pm PT

    DNF= Did Not Finish lol

  • rbarahona

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 5:51 pm PT

    Bad news for Take Two... I really hope that with the new games they could make some profits. As for Duke Nukem... could we finally see this game? It would be very nice, although I really don't know what to think about it now...

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 5:08 pm PT

    shoot.... for a 500k bonus, i'd release the game unfinished and 'promise' an update 'soon.'

  • QualityJeverage

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 5:01 pm PT

    Wouldn't it be the ultimate irony if the game sucked? Not that I don't like Duke Nukem, I just think it would be kind of funny.

  • pantweasel

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 4:52 pm PT

    Haha, I've been waiting for this game ever since it was announced. I hope it finally gets published.

  • RodoggJedi

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 4:16 pm PT

    i might as well say this, Its never gonna come out, its been nearly 10 years, so lets just forget about it and go on to other games IMO

  • TOMBRAIDERHADI

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 2:55 pm PT

    Wolecom Duck Nukem!

  • Andy7546

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 2:54 pm PT

    This will really help sales...well, when it's done. This game has been in development for a decade, I don't think the graphics/sound will be current gen.

  • BlackArts_Viper

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 1:39 pm PT

    Do you think they'll give 3d realms another $500,000 incentive to finally bring Dukes hair out of the 80's?

    and to answer your question JediMutant, two words for you... Starcraft:Ghost

  • JediMutant

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 1:34 pm PT

    So... If Duke Nukem Forever actually comes out... What game will we make fun of?

  • V_W

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 1:33 pm PT

    I doubt it will be finished on 31 dec the deadline is tooooo short but im not saying its not gonna come out

  • 4ngelus

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 12:42 pm PT

    After all these years I've really lost my interest in this game. Even if it does come out, I probably won't buy it. I used to feel very different though >_>

  • tomxizor

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:43 am PT

    If it does come out, i'lll probably suck.

  • rich639

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:38 am PT

    they should really change the totle sa the fact that it has got forever in just makes all of this painful.

  • mareaper

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:35 am PT

    Hopefully tehy are not picking up where they left off with the games development. I think the last I heard a years back it was being developed on the Unreal 1 engine after switching from Quake II tech.
    If they release anything based on that now it better be a budget title.
    However if they finish the games with newer tech it will probably be worth while.
    I guess only time will tell with this one.

  • nev70

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:06 am PT

    ps HOW FAR HAS THE FPS MARKET MOVED ON EVERY, DOG HAS ITS DAY AND THAT WAS YEARS AGO

  • nev70

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 11:04 am PT

    it will be rubbish ,yeah lets rush it out to get our stock value raised on the market, IF IT WAS ANY GOOdAND SHOWED PROMISE DONT YOU THINK IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OUT BY NOW

  • ElHypno

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:56 am PT

    I loved DukeNukem 3d....in the 90's. I think the problem with this property is that it caters to that 90's action sterotype which is think has slowly become less and less appealing to most in this day and age. I just think this title is doomed to complete and totaly failure. People who play games on thier PC's are most likely going to over look anything that could be played decently on the ps2 or xbox. This is going to be a stinker and Take Two knows it.

  • AlexJ-

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:55 am PT

    Why do I get the feeling they are just going to through something together, that no one expected, nor wanted? Hmm.

  • mightywarlord

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:33 am PT

    after all this time, wouldn't it suck if the game flopped?

  • discoron_basic

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:32 am PT

    Come on, Duke Nukem Forever was already released for the Atari 2600!
    http://www.3drealms.com/duke4/dnf2600.html

  • Hellisunreal

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:18 am PT

    lol

  • nappan

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 10:04 am PT

    Face it, DNF died a long time ago, and if they release whatever hafl-a**ed lump of code they've managed to cobble together this time, it's going to bomb. Does anyone seriously believe that while games like Oblivion are being released, that DNF is going to be anywhere NEAR the current gen's quality? Duke Nukem 3D was fun and new, but hell, what's come out since then? Halo(s), Unreal Tournament(s), and a lot of new material. 3DRealms just keeps trying to stay one step ahead, and I get the sense they're just falling two steps behind. I see DNF as a kind of Doom3 dinosaur... in a world where games like Half Life 2, and Oblivion are king. Some things are best left as pleasant nostalgia. Whatever walking corpse of a game eventually gets published is going to probably be a catastrophic critical failure.

  • Hevid

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 9:50 am PT

    I really hope we will see DNF ever in stores
    I really liked duke nukem 3d back in the years (man i'm old)
    When i once was reading a magazine from 2001 the people where already amazed that it was shown on a E3 3 times already (99 '2000 and 2001) and there was still no release date and even now i dont think they will reach the end of the year
    and indeed what anny already said..we havent seen a screenshot or video how the game looks like these days
    i dont think it is a game that will look very bad..but not very great either way
    but with the money they have spent in that game..man..then it should be a nice looking game right?...annyone?
    and to be honest i dont care if a game takes so long to create..as long as it will be a good game
    i think we dont have to see this as a game that has so long of a delay becuase they kinda rebuild it over and over...so what do ya all say..just give them a chance they deserve even if it takes time..duke nukem was always a good game..and funny aswell..so only time will tell us more..and if it really comes out end this year..they better show me some screens or video's )

  • demon75

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 8:51 am PT

    Duke Nukem was good for it's time but don't expect much now, especially when 3D Realms is being forced to finish it.

  • bodylotion

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 5:58 am PT

    When i saw this i just had to post something, I still think Take2 is a very good developer and i hope this game will rule.

  • sirbruce70

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 5:53 am PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • transacoustica

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 3:57 am PT

    this duke nukem forever thing lasts forever i think. When we'll be grandpa's and grandma's maybe it will be released.

  • Bathyj

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 3:35 am PT

    Ha Ha. People here actually believe DNF is going to come out. I'll be playing Stalker before Duke Nukem. On a serious note, is really sad that Take 2 has lost so much money and market confidence all because of this stupid hot coffee crap. It was no big deal, just a noisy storm in a little teacup and the company will probably never fully recover. I've seen worse on Sex in the City (just while I was flipping channels, I promise) and thats free to air TV. I had to pay $100 Australian to get GTA SA thus proving I was at least mature enough to have a job. As if a little pixelated, non arrousing sex in a game was going to change anyones lives. Well it did if you happened to be CEO of Take 2. Ps, even if Duke did come out it would be very rushed. Rushed? You heard me. They can't be using the original engine. It'd have to be 6 or 7 years old. They wouldn't have been working on it all this time, so if they resumed work they would have to have practacly had to start from scratch. Patching whatever they could together for an engine and trying to make it fit into whatever they've come up with in terms of level design. Sometimes we just have to let go.

  • Ibacai

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 1:03 am PT

    Good lord. When will this charade end? Even if DNF does come out, it will be horrible. We're talking DnL horrible. *shudder*

    Oh well, we still have Starcraft ghost to make fun of if DNF actually ships.

  • Sheepofevilz

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 12:43 am PT

    Bull crap.

  • KnightsofRound

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 12:37 am PT

    Wow, Duke Nukem Forever coming out by the end of the year? That's a shock. I doubt it will ever come out, but I hope I'm wrong. I just hope that if it DOES come out it won't suck ass.

  • GenericGamer01

    Posted Jun 11, 2006 12:27 am PT

    You know what would be awesome? Duke Nukem 3D.....Source

  • EugeneE3RD

    Posted Jun 10, 2006 11:30 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

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