So remember that lawsuit from last year? The one with Duke Nukem music composer Bobby Prince suing Gearbox over unpaid royalties? It turns out that Gearbox might not have been the bad guys in that situation after all and the whole thing might have been all due to 3D Realms.

To understand the latest lawsuit and why Gearbox is angry enough to sue 3D Realms after almost a decade, we have to go back to 2010. 3D Realms was in insolvency and selling off properties like hotcakes. Gearbox came in and purchased the rights to Duke Nukem, eventually resulting in the much-maligned Duke Nukem Forever and also 2016’s Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour.

The 2010 deal between 3D Realms and Gearbox was supposed to be a complete sale. Anything and everything involved with Duke Nukem was to be handed over to Gearbox, no questions. So Gearbox was a bit upset when composer Bobby Prince filed a suit against Gearbox alleging unpaid royalties for the music used in 20th Anniversary World Tour.

Prince’s suit, filed in September of 2019, alleged that Prince owned the rights to the music and that Gearbox, therefore, owed him money for every game sold. This contradicts the 2010 deal that Gearbox had with 3D Realms which said that 3D Realms owned everything–including the music.

“We’re literally in the middle – either Bobby is right and deserves to be paid, in which case 3D Realms is wrong … or 3D Realms is right and Bobby’s wrong,” Gearbox CEO told Digital Trends in an interview. “And we don’t know. So, we need to bring a judge in and have a look at things from both sides.”

Things are apparently copacetic between Prince and Gearbox at the moment. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour is set to arrive on the Nintendo Switch next week, with Gearbox and Prince having already worked out a licensing deal for the music used in the new port.

Things are less copacetic between Gearbox and 3D Realms. Gearbox is seeking all court costs and also full recovery of any amounts they would have owed Prince due to 3D Realms failing to mention they don’t actually own the music used in their games. We’ll have to wait for a judge to rule on that case.

Source: Digital Trends