10 Terrible Decisions That Doomed Popular Video Game Companies

10. Betting It All On Duke Nukem - 3D Realms

Duke Nukem Forever was a game almost 14 years in the making. Originally announced in 1997, 3D Realms wanted the first-person shooter to be the most cutting-edge title in the genre, but their pursuit of perfection ended up sending the entire studio down in flames.

While they, on multiple occasions, allegedly had a nearly-finished game that could have been polished and released, new technology and engines resulted in constant internal reboots to make sure no other title had the edge over it. Even by 2001, the sequel had become something of a joke, with new trailers releasing with the launch date of "when it's done".

In between this, the developers did work on other projects (including Prey), constantly putting off finishing Duke's next outing, the production of which had spiralled completely out of control.

They needed Forever to be a success, but sadly after a restructuring in 2009 following running out of funds, the company became defunct. They were sued by Take-Two for not delivering the game, who gave it to Gearbox to polish up and push out the door.

[Josh Brown]