Duke Nukem 3D: the now canceled remake appears on the net in playable form

Just a few days ago we told you about Duke Nukem Forever and its 2D version that appeared on the net on December 26th. Today we return to talk about the historic franchise inaugurated by 3D Realms (formerly Apogee Software) in 1991, but more precisely we are talking about Duke Nukem 3D, the first person shooter that has marked the history of this videogame genre.

Thanks to the latest leaks we discover that a remake of Duke Nukem 3D was in development at the Danish studios of Interceptor Entertainmenta company known today as Slipgate Ironworks (Ghostrunners). The remake of the FPS should have seen the light about ten years ago, but even in this case something went wrong. Instead, we now have a playable demo.

Dukem Nukem 3D: Reloaded, this is how it should have been

In 2010 it was announced Duke Nukem 3D: Reloadedremake of the shooter released in 1996. The game, originally born as a fan-made project, would have been developed with UnrealEngine 3 by Interceptor Entertainment, with the ‘blessing’ of the publisher Gearbox Software – together with 3D Realms itself, Gearbox was acquired by Embracer Group in 2021.

After just one year of the global reveal, the development of Reloaded was put on hold on standby. According to the story of Frederik Schreiberfounder of Interceptor and project manager, the remake of Duke Nukem 3D “it was getting too much press and fan attention”. On Gearbox’s orders, the development team had to remove all Reloaded assets and media from the web: “We were also told not to talk about it anymore”Schreiber added.

It seems that Gearbox’s decision depended on the lukewarm reception received by the aforementioned Duke Nukem Forever, distributed right in that period (June 2011). At the time, the American manufacturer was focused on developing a DLC that could revive Forever and renew public interest, which pushed the Reloaded project into the abyss of oblivion.

So we come to the present day. A few hours ago, the group x0r_jmp He released on anonfiles an older build of Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded dating back to September 2011. The ‘test-version 0.0010’ shows a preliminary version of the remake and includes some well-known maps such as Hollywood Holocaust (the first level of Duke Nukem 3D); even possible to try a brand new multiplayer mode which winks at Unreal Tournament, obviously with bots.

Recall that x0r_jmp the same group that spread the aforementioned 2D version of Duke Nukem Forever and who made it downloadable via archive.org.