Gearbox estimates original Duke Nukem Forever developer lost $20-$30 million on the title

Gearbox has estimated the original developer of Duke Nukem Forever, 3D Realms, may have lost around $20-$30 million on the title.

Speaking in an interview with CVG during a press junket in London this morning, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford told the site the hefty sum likely came out of 3D Realms co-founder George Broussard's own pocket.

"There was the bad news in May 2009," Pitchford said. "You all saw the stories; 3D Realms was shutting down, Duke was dead. That sucked. It was tough being in Dallas, many of my friends lost their jobs.

"I spoke to George Broussard and he said, 'Randy, this is the worst day of my life' but you could hear in his voice there was more. This was 12 years of his life... try and imagine what you've achieved in 12 years, Gearbox has made 15 games in that time.

"George is not a poor man, but I would estimate that he lost 20 to 30 million dollars of his own money on Duke Nukem Forever - I don't care who you are, that's a hell of a lot of money. He was committed to Duke to the point of insanity - and now Duke was dead.

"He decided he would rather have it burn that have a bad version of the game come out."

Pitchford told VG247 during PAX Prime last month Broussard is still involved with DNF, and is working alongside Gearbox on the title.

It was announced this week that those purchasing the GOTY Edition of Borderlands would receive an early access demo of Duke Nukem Forever via a key included in the package.

No date was set for the demo, but Pitchford told us during the game's reveal a PAX a demo was "an important thing to do" for fans.

DNF is slated for released next year on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.