Duke Nukem Forever's termination a 360 affair?

Take-Two's lawsuit against Duke Nukem Forever developer Apogee/3D Realms has unearthed a proposed Xbox 360 version of the game that appeared to be a sticking point.

It was announced in May of this year that development studio 3D Realms had closed down and ended production on the 1997-announced Duke Nukem Forever game.

A law-suit was launched by the game's publisher Take-Two not long after, accusing Apogee of not fulfilling its obligations on the game. The May 11th lawsuit has now been unearthed by Shacknews, and it surprisingly centres on an Xbox 360 version of the PC game.

Take-Two claims to have notified the developer that they wanted to "exercise its option to develop a Console Version of [Duke Nukem Forever] for the Xbox 360," which the publisher would fund. However, the discussions fell apart this year due to a disagreement over the 360-port's funding. Take-Two then claims that they intended to exercise its right to make a 360 version of the game with another developer; but this plan never went through as Apogee instead shut down development without warning.

"Notwithstanding Apogee's consistent assurances that it would soon complete development of DNF," the suit states, "on May 6, 2009, Apogee closed its studios, terminated development of DNF and laid-off all employees who had been involved in the DNF project. Upon information and belief, Apogee has title to a substantial amount of funds deposited in an off-shore account, which Take-Two believes Apogee can use to fund its outstanding obligations."

Take-Two is seeking total damages of $12 million for the developer's breach of contract, with a further court order to stop former members of the Duke Nukem team from leaking any more footage or screenshots.

Via Kotaku