With its storied 12 year development history, it comes as no surprise that Duke Nukem Forever was a colossal money pit. Speaking to CVG, Gearbox head-honcho Randy Pitchford estimates that 3DRealms head George Broussard poured in approximately $20-30 million of his own cash into the project.

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 Broussard 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.

Keep in mind, that figure overlooks funding provided by publisher Take-Two as well. Broussard, while no longer calling all the shots, is still involved in the DNF project to some degree. He must feel fortunate that Gearbox picked up DNF during its bleak stint in limbo.

Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Duke Nukem Forever is scheduled to make its long-awaited debut later next year on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Duke Nukem Forever ‘cost 3D Realms boss $30 million’ [CVG]

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