Cancelled Duke Nukem Trailer Has Been Revealed After 13 Years

A trailer for Gearbox’s cancelled Duke Nukem Begins has finally been uploaded after thirteen years in the shadows. This all stems from Gregor Punchatz, a well-established artist who was set to work on the prequel back in 2008.

After sitting on the back burner for over a decade, Punchatz has finally spilt the beans on the Duke Nukem prequel. With a full teaser uploaded to YouTube, the artist aimed to rekindle the flame for the canned game, with credit being served up to all those who poured heart and soul into its conception.

“We poured everything we had into making the most awesome cinematic Janimation had ever created. But unfortunately, we got word the game was cancelled due to the legal issues with Duke Nukem at the time,” Punchatz wrote. “It crushed us, as this was what we thought could help us compete with bigger players in the game trailer market at the time.”

“Because it is still a piece I am damn proud of, I am releasing it 13 years after its creation. The whole team that worked with me deserves to see this released into the wild.”

What could’ve been…

Duke Nukem Begins was set to follow up after Duke Nukem Forever, which, as you may recall — was a total disaster from the get-go. Thanks to the conflict between Gearbox and 3D Realms and the ownership of the Duke Nukem IP, development for all working titles following its 2011 release were met with rocky schedules and harsh conditions. And that, of course, goes for the prequel, too. Push forward to 2009, work on Duke Nukem Begins was scrapped, with the title essentially being shelved for the foreseeable future.

Ten years have passed since Duke Nukem Forever hit the shelves, and the franchise has sadly failed to gain a second foothold in the market since. Duke Nukem Begins, despite being pulled from the table in 2009, could have very well been that fighting chance. However, clearly, it wasn’t meant to be, and there isn’t a great deal we can do to change its unfortunate demise.

Still, a cinematic is a cinematic. It isn’t the full package, nor is it what Gearbox would’ve wanted. But it’s a little piece of something that could’ve been. And that has to count for something, right?

Duke Nukem Begins was cancelled in 2009 due to a legal dispute between publisher Take-Two Interactive and 3D Realms. It’s unclear whether or not the game will return to the drawing board in the future.