January 29, 1996 · Game

Duke Nukem 3D (1996)

3D Realms.

Duke Nukem 3D was built by 3D Realms on the Build engine on a budget of about $300,000 with a team of 8 growing to 12-13. It launched as shareware January 29, 1996, with the full version on April 19, 1996. The PC version scored 89/100 on Metacritic and sold about 3.5 million copies; in the US it was the 12th best-selling computer game of 1993-1999 with 950,000 units. It pioneered destructible environments and non-linear levels while drawing controversy for sexual content and violence. The source was released under GPL-2.0 on April 1, 2003, enabling EDuke32, JFDuke3D and Chocolate Duke3D.

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Facts

Date: January 29, 1996
Kind: Game
Maker or publisher: FormGen
Developer: 3D Realms
Genre: First-person shooter
Players: Single-player, multiplayer
Format: MS-DOS
Engine: Build
Designer: Allen H. Blum III, Richard Gray
Platforms: DOS, Mac, Saturn, N64, PlayStation, Game.com, Genesis, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, PS3, Vita, Switch