Duke Nukem Forever

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Take-Two has revealed that Duke Nukem Forever has become a profitable title for the company. In a conference call following the announcement of losses incurred during the publisher’s first fiscal quarter ended June 30, CEO Strauss Zelnick said the game – which was in development for over 14 years – achieved a level of commercial success despite being panned by critics. "Despite its disappointing reviews, Duke Nukem Forever was profitable for Take-Two,” he said, according to Gamasutra. Take-Two said following the game’s release that it is committed to growing the Duke Nukem franchise. That strategy will begin with the release of downloadable content packs for DNF, but could extend to non-videogame products based on the IP.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, clearly undeterred by Duke Nukem Forever's dismal review scores, tells Forbes: "You will see future Duke IP coming from this company." However, Zelnick appears to be looking beyond games, to other media, saying: "The economic opportunities that interact with entertainment are so huge...If we can take some of our intellectual property and bring it to another medium in an extraordinarily high-quality way, that delights consumers and represents an interesting commercial opportunity for us, we will. Stay tuned."

The publisher's share price has fallen more than 15 per cent since the middle of last month, though is still up 20 per cent for the year. Driving factors are sales of LA Noire, which NPD revealed this week had sold 899,000 in May - a strong showing but some way short of the 1.5 million units Take-Two's Red Dead Redemption sold in the same month last year - and dismal reviews of Duke Nukem Forever.

2K Games has dropped third party PR agency The Redner Group, which most recently represented the publisher on the poorly received Duke Nukem Forever. The move came after the PR firm’s founder, Jim Redner, threatened to blacklist reviewers, saying on Twitter last night: “Too many went too far with their reviews...we are reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn't based on today's venom.” 2K responded swiftly, announcing today: “2K Games does not endorse or condone the comments made by @TheRednerGroup and confirm they no longer represent our products.”