Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever, the fourth game in the Duke Nukem series, a first-person shooter for the PC, had experienced a series of delays since development began in April 1997. Delays have been allegedly due to poor management, internal rewrites and game engine technology restarts. The most recent promotional information was released in December 2007.

On May 6, 2009, claims surfaced that Duke Nukem developer 3D Realms closed its doors due to funding issues. Publisher Take-Two retained the rights to Duke Nukem Forever,Joystiq: Duke Nukem dev 3D Realms has shut down (May 6, 2009) later announcing a breach of contract suit against 3D Realms spin-off, Apogee Software, which had been developing the game for twelve years. Take-Two claims to have paid $12 million for the publishing rights in 2000 and was assured that the game would be completed in 2008.Ars Technica: Take-Two sues over lack of Duke Nukem Forever completion (May 15, 2009) According to 3D Realms, however, the company is not closing, having spent $20 million of their own money on the game's development, and seeing only $2.5 million from Take-Two.Edge-Online: 3D Realms Responds To Take-Two Lawsuit (May 18, 2009)

Duke Nukem Forever has been the recipient of the Wired News Vaporware Awards several times since it first made the list, placing second in June of 2000. It topped the list in 2001 and 2002, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, presumably so it would no longer need to be listed. However, due to reader demand, it again won first place in 2005, 2006 and 2007.