id Software business director Steve Nix recently told VideoGamer that news of 3DRealms halting development on Duke Nukem Forever and laying off staff came off as completely unexpected to him. In fact, he initially thought it was all an elaborate joke – but then reality kicked in.

So I know for me personally I thought it was a joke when I heard the other day. So definitely, extremely saddened and surprising that those guys aren’t there and we may never see the game we were all looking forward to.

You weren’t alone, Nix. Taking the studio’s past history into account, it was reasonable to assume this was all a marketing stunt at first. Although the future of Duke Nukem Forever is still up in the air, a downsized and financially-troubled 3DRealms remains operational and is currently fighting off an onslaught of legal claims brought into motion by publisher Take-Two.

id thought demise of Duke Nukem Forever was a joke [VG]

Read more: Duke Nukem D-Day Teased, 3DRealms: Duke Nukem Forever Planned For Multi Platform Release, Duke Nukem Forever Artist Goes Public With Unreleased Screenshots, 2K Games To Publish Duke’s Latest, 3DRealms Shuts Down, Future Of DNF Put In Question