3D Realms, Duke Nukem Forever, & E3

George Broussard (head of development on Duke Nukem Forever) posted this update today on our web forums about the status of 3D Realms and the forthcoming E3 show next month in Los Angeles. Here's what George had to say:

Before rumors start, we want to clarify our E3 plans. We will not be showing Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) at E3, not as a video, nor in back room demos.

This is the same policy we had last year. We do not believe including DNF in the E3 dog and pony show will benefit our goal with the game, which quite simply is to surprise the player with unexpected content and gameplay. E3 can be a the great spoiler of game content and we believe this to be the case for DNF if we show it there.

Pros of doing an E3 video:

*Mainly an ego boost for the team. You get to show off. But this showing off is best saved for the game's release.

*Fans see what you are up to and much press and buzz can be generated.

Cons of doing an E3 video:

*You can greatly spoil the game for fans. We do not want to show you specific details of the game because we'd rather you experience them when you play for the first time.

*You tip off competitors months before your game ships and devalue your hard work which can easily be replicated once seen.

*You depreciate your game content. Once it is seen, it becomes "expected and known" and people naturally want upon release.

*You have to show too much. We don't want to show everything and spoil the game and we certainly don't want to waste time doing some "teaser" video.

By not doing the video we get:

*Backlash from disappointed fans or people crying Vaporware. This is fine, because it all goes away when the game ships. We have thick skins, see the game daily and are confident with it's progress and position in the gaming food chain.

*We protect the players experience. When they play the game it will be fresh and new and they will say "wow" every 10 seconds. They will thank us for not spoiling the game for them.

So after some internal debate and re-affirming our position, we will not show DNF at E3 in any form.

For what it's worth...we turned down PC Gamer and PCXL requested exclusive screenshots of DNF for small roundup previews in May/June issues. We like these guys a lot, but we did this for the same reason as above. If those same magazines (or anyone in the world) called and asked us for 3 minutes of video footage of DNF for a May/June coverdisk, we'd turn them down flat. So why then, would we do it for E3? For the press, coverage and hype? No thanks, we have enough of that.

We will never over-expose the game before its release. You won't ever see mass releases or screenshot-of-the-day for DNF. You won't ever see a full weapon and character listing in a preview, spoiling the many surprises.

We hope the die hard fans out there understand that we're just trying to protect the game's experience, and we hope that you support us in this decision. See you on the message boards.

/me puts on his flame resistant suit.

Posted by Joe Siegler on April 17, 2000 at 4:20 PM | Permalink
News Categories: Duke Nukem Forever