Danish investor buys Apogee Software / 3DRealms

[Kielgasten]

Which seems like an odd move, but alright...

The linked article is in Danish, because I couldn´t find any in English, so you´ll just have to trust me until further notice.

Basically a Danish serial entrepreneur has bought the company, and is intending to restore it to it´s former glory. He mentions some of the IP´s which is held by the company, including Duke Nuke´em, which baffles me a bit, considering that the new Duke-game (incidentally also being developed by a Danish company) has been hit with a "cease and desist" from Gearbox.
The price is mentioned as being a secret, but I suspect "cheap" will describe it fairly adequately.
Also, it is mentioned that the studio will stay in Texas for the time being, but they leave the option open to relocate it.
If it works out, I hope they will move the studio here, we could use some more game companies in these parts.

Anyways, this is news, so there!

http://borsen.dk/nyheder/it/artikel/1/277836/danskere_koeber_computerspils-legenden_bag_duke_nukem.html

 

[tippy2k2]

These guys are merely reporting what your site says but it's in English so that should help here:

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/20650/article/rumor-3d-realms-acquired-by-danish-company-new-ceo-from-interceptor-entertainment/

If true, this seems like a really weird move. What kind of investor is willing to risk his money on a company that might be demolished (financially at least) by an incoming lawsuit. That's only a "Cease and Desist" thing rather than a "Sue you into oblivion!" lawsuit but still; a lot of money has probably been lost if by the assets/man hours alone. I suppose there's probably more to this than meets the eye so we'll just have to wait and see what happens...

 

[Kielgasten]

Thanks tippy.
Also, my original article didn´t actually make the connection that he is also the owner of Intercepter. It makes a bit more sense though, as he at least have all the details of legal issues.
Still, it should be interesting to watch this play out

 

[BrotherRool]

This is really weird. I would even say that it's fairly dangerous and there must be something messy going on behind the signs. Initially when this cease and desist order came up, one possibility was that Interceptor might be in a position where they could/should sue 3D Realms for licensing them to work on an IP that they didn't actually own. As long as Interceptor had signed a decent contract 3D Realms should be liable for the money they'd lose on making a game that can't be released and potentially any legal troubles.


Buying up the company takes that idea out of the equation. It also suggests that Interceptor probably knew that 3D Realms didn't actually own the Duke Nukem IP, else they would be feeling pretty burned right now instead of buying them up right?

I guess they have Rise of the Triads and stuff, but still this definitely feels like shenanigans

EDIT: Nope they don't have Rise of the Triads. They can release older Duke titles but according to Polygon

Terry Nagy, co-founder and chief creative officer of Apogee Software, LLC, told Polygon, "Interceptor Entertainment has not acquired Apogee Software, LLC nor any of our IP including Rise of the Triad."

As detailed in our feature on the history of Apogee Software, Nagy bought the rights to the Apogee name in 2008, along with the IP for franchises such as Rise of the Triad. It was Apogee Software, LLC, that licensed the IP to Interceptor for last year's Rise of the Triad. Miller's original company is Apogee Software, Ltd., which currently does business as 3D Realms.