3D Realms was rumored to be shutting down, then the staff confirmed the news on the official website, now they’re waking up from the graves to state that, actually, 3D Realms has not and is not closing. Even more, they’re still working on Duke Nukem Forever (they do that for 11 years now, it’s hard to see them doing something else).

However, according to a press statement, the company had to let go DNF’s development team and it is unclear now how many people, if any, are actually working on Duke Nukem Forever or they are just planning to hire a developer or two to create the game for the next 20 years or so… One thing is clear: “While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise,” the studio says. Crystal clear, right?

3D Realms also proved that, even though smaller and without a penny in their pockets, they still have guts: they sent a few words to Take Two, the company that sued them for not finishing Duke Nukem Forever:

“Take-Two retains publishing rights for the DNF game, although 3DR retains certain rights to sell the game directly to the public. Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game,” the company said in their statement, adding that Take Two made a last minute proposal to buy the development team plus the DNF franchise, but 3D Realms did not like the offer since, apparently, there was no “upfront money, no guaranteed minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game”.

In other words, it’s all turning to be a big, humor-less joke. Just like Duke Nukem Forever was for the past 11 years.