EL DRAMA DE DNF SEGÚN 3DREALMS

«Oh, the drama».

«In light of recent press articles and statements by Take-Two (to the media and in a lawsuit), we want to set the record straight on some issues.

Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing. 3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6th, while we regroup as a company. While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.

As some of you may know, Take-Two filed a lawsuit last week containing various accusations and claims against 3DR and the uncompleted DNF game. Take-Two never paid 3DR advances or any signing bonus or any other funds related to DNF, up until July 2008, at which time they paid $2.5m in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game.

This is the sum total Take-Two has paid 3DR in connection with DNF. Take-Two claims that they paid $12m to GT Interactive/Infogrames to acquire the publishing rights for the DNF game. To be clear, 3DR was not a party to that transaction and did not receive any money from it. When the DNF game was originally signed with GT Interactive in 1998, GT paid 3DR a $400,000 signing bonus. Up until July 2008, this was the only publisher money we received for the DNF game. Meanwhile, 3DR put over $20m into the production of DNF.

Take-Two retains publishing rights for the DNF game, although 3DR retains certain rights to sell the game directly to the public. Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game. In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized.

Take-Two was well aware that 3DR needed the funding to continue the DNF game development. Suddenly, after months of negotiations, Take-Two materially changed the parameters of the proposed funding agreement. 3DR informed Take-Two that it could not financially afford the changes Take-Two was suggesting and would be forced to release the team if an agreement was not reached.

Take-Two made a last minute proposal to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team. Take-Two’s proposal was unacceptable to 3DR for many reasons, including no upfront money, no guarantee minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game. From 3DR’s perspective, we viewed Take-Two as trying to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise in a «fire sale.» Those negotiations fell through on May 4th, a deal never materialized, and the DNF team was sadly released a few days later.

Less than a week after the DNF team was released, Take-Two filed its lawsuit in New York, seeking immediate temporary injunctive relief. The court denied Take-Two’s request for a temporary restraining order. While we cannot comment on the details of the ongoing lawsuit, we believe Take-Two’s lawsuit is without merit and merely a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher.»

Traducción Ajare: Todo este tocho es la respuesta oficial de 3D Realms al drama de DNF y se podría resumir en algo así como «Take 2 es el diablo».

Al parecer el drama es el siguiente; en el pasado año 3DRealms empieza a sentir en sus carnes la falta de fondos por lo que conecta con Take 2 para decirles algo así como «Hey, necesitamos pasta». Take 2; les dice que venga, que vale, que cuenten con ella, pero que lo quieren dejar todo atadito en un documento escrito redactado por los servicios jurídicos de ambas compañías. «Eso sí, mientras tanto deberíais ir cumpliendo esta lista de hitos». A partir de ese momento, 3DRealms, se pone por primera vez una lista de hitos a cumplir y efectivamente va progresando con ella alcanzándolos y dejándolos zanjados en el tiempo estimado.

Justo cuando la pasta empieza a flaquear, Take 2 (habría que saber si tras ver el estado en el que se encontraba el juego) cambia de opinión y dice: «No way, no vais a ver ni un duro«. 3Drealms les avisa; «Si no nos dais la pasta tendremos que despedir a todo el mundo porque no podemos permitirnos pagar los sueldos«. Y entonces Take 2 les hace una oferta para comprar la franquicia (IP) Duke Nukem y a 3DRealms al parecer por un precio ridículo, aprovechando que estos andaban axfisiados de pasta.

3DRealms despide a todo el mundo y como se suele decir en las pelis de espías «goes undercover». Vamos que se queda bajo mínimos con Broussard, una telefonista y un señor de bigote que nunca se ha sabido quién es, pero al que todos tienen cariño.

Take 2 demanda a 3DRealms por incumplimiento de contrato y estos envían por fin esa nota aclaratoria en la que además comentan dos aspectos jugosos; que los únicos 2,5 millones de dólares que han recibido por parte de Take 2 formaban parte de «otro contrato para un juego a día de hoy todavía no anunciado» y que 3DRealms todavía conserva la capacidad para hacer llegar «Duke Nukem Forever» directamente a los usuarios sin pasar por distribuidora alguna. Además consideran que la demanda de Take 2 no tiene base alguna.

Digo yo que eso lo tendrá que decidir un juez así que ya veremos.

fte: Gamasutra