Gearbox CEO talks Duke Nukem Forever

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford will go down in history as the man who brought Duke Nukem back from the dead. But how does he feel about doing so?

The world and its dog were surprised when it was announced at PAX in September that Duke Nukem Forever would finally be getting released, a full 13 years after development began. The saviors? Gearbox Software, who are committed to bringing the game to the masses some time in 2011.

VideoGamer recently spoke to him about Duke Nukem Forever and asked him whether it was the biggest thing he’d done in his career to date. He said:

On a personal level, it’s very big. I don’t know what to expect when it comes out in America. I know I’ve got to do what I’ve have to do, and everybody involved feels the same way – like, we just have to do it.

But on an emotional level, it’s really big. It’s kind of weird, if you think of all things you take a risk on and put money into, Duke Nukem Forever is probably the riskiest thing you could bet on! But I think you get a sense of the situation you’re in, and the situation that unfolded, and how could we not? If I didn’t get involved, if our studio didn’t get involved, I would have regretted that my entire life.

Risky? I’ll say. Taking a game that has been in development since the days when we all playing the original Playstation, bringing it up to date so that it appeals to the current generation of gamers, and then releasing it is surely insane. And yet it might just work. Pitchford will end up as either a hero or a villain, and we’ll know by this time next year.

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