According to Pitchford, Gearbox began finishing 'Duke Nukem Forever' in late 2009. 'Clearly the game hadn't been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created,' he says. 'The approach and investment and process at 3d Realms didn't quite make it and it cracked at the end. With Gearbox Software we brought all those pieces together. It's the game it was meant to be."

That means that the game will be a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D and will have both single player and multiplayer. "Aliens come and say they're going to be our friends and Duke knows this isn't going to work out," Pitchford says. "Duke once again is in the pivotal spot and its up to him to save the world."

The game is currently expected to ship in 2010 although given it's history Pitchford is understandably reluctant to be more specific. "We're in the polishing phase now. This is a game where we can not make a promise we can not fulfill," he says. "We need to get past the shock and awe and then we can go to all the retailers and first parties and work out a launch plan."