Pitchford: "I don't want to live in a world where Duke doesn't exist"

Gearbox's Randy Pitchford has said he personally needs Duke Nukem to exist, and that Duke Nukem Forever will be "four or five Call of Duties" long.

"When Duke was dead I thought 'oh my gosh, we are the only people in the world who can save this, we have to commit to it,'" the CEO told CVG.

"I had to decide if it was worth it. It's a huge risk... But Duke is absolutely one of a kind, and there's nothing else like him in the world, and I need him.

"Like, I don't want to live in a world where Duke doesn't exist."

On the subject of the game's length and value, Pitchford was confident.

"It's actually a pretty big game. It's between 14 and 18 hours of gameplay, so that's like four or five Call of Duties."

Once more, Pitchford was called upon to answer the challenge of sexism.

"Duke isn't a misogynist. He is ego-centric and everything in his world revolves around him. And women can offer him something different than men can. So if, to Duke, women are less than him, it's not because they're women, it's just because they're not him," he reiterated.

"But he actually loves women and will put himself to great risk to make sure that they're safe. That's the whole premise of the game.

"I think it'd be really interesting some day to see what a female version of Duke would be like. Maybe that's a game."

Thanks, Big Download.