Wow. Those of you hanging on to the idea of Duke Nukem Forever may have just had your hopes dashed one last time. A "very reliable source" close to the developer, 3D Realms has apparently told media outlets that the company will be shut down completely by the end of the week.

While rumours have been flying thick and fast all day, 3D Realms have just confirmed the news is "not a marketing thing". We also have a statement from publishing partner Take-Two, which adds some interesting elements to the discussion.

Early stories suggest the closure has come about due to funding issues (that's what happens when your game takes more than 13 years to be released). We'd originally heard that the closure will affect both 3D Realms and the newly relaunched Apogee, but have since received a statement that says this ain't so.

Firstly, Alan Lewis, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs for Take-Two has this to say:

"It is the Company's policy to not comment on its contractual relationships, nor do we comment on rumors and speculation. That said, we can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title. In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever."

So, this is interesting, even if it's not the outright "Yes, they're closed" people were dreading. It was common knowledge that Duke Nukem Forever was self-funded by 3D Realms, but the publisher had provided them with financial assistance at earlier points in the game's development. The announcement that they have not provided "ongoing funds" to the project may well have contributed to the "funding issues" mentioned in the original statement.

And in case you missed it, the fact they're hanging onto the publishing rights means that we may (or may not) see Duke Nukem Forever at some point in the future, but whether or not 3D Realms are involved is a whole different question.

Meanwhile, the Duke franchise is not dead, according to an email statement from Deep Silver and Apogee:

"Deep Silver and Apogee Software are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned."

(Duke Nukem Trilogy is a handheld release for both PSP and DS, scheduled for "Fall 2009" in the States.)

It's worth observing that the statement confirms a "situation" at 3DR, and does not mention any other releases, ominously leaving out DNF.

The embattled Duke last made our news headlines as recently as last month, when 3D Realms figure-head George Broussard posted on his Twitter account that the game was edging ever-closer to a "ready" state, with a mere "71 tasks" (of an original 800-900) left to go. Earlier - in January of this year - Broussard updated with the news that he was visiting Take-Two to demonstrate the work they'd been doing on the game.

Today however, Broussard's social networking has remained resoundingly quiet, his last update on May 4th about a Lord of the Rings fan film.

3D Realms celebrated its 21st birthday last year, after being founded in 1987 by Broussard and his friend Scott Miller, with the company best known for the Duke Nukem series of shooters. The bubblegum-chewing hero did finally make his way onto the current generation of consoles, with the re-release of Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live Arcade late last year - will this be the last time we get to see him?


Images from a 2007 teaser trailer for Duke Nukem Forever
We will be keeping a close eye on this as we wait to hear back from various companies, all the while keeping our fingers crossed that it is just a rumour. Makes it difficult to type, but it's Duke Nukem Forever! It can't disappear! Not like this!

Thanks to Shacknews for the original story, Gamasutra for independent confirmation, Giant Bomb for the update and Kyle for hooking us up with the original email statement.