Gearbox Worried Duke Nukem Too Crude For ESRB

Duke Nukem Forever “dances the line of decency,” says Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford.

Forget scientists in bright orange suits or nameless marines from the future, Duke Nukem is a real man and a real hero, as long as your definition of “real” is “ridiculously over the top.” His new game doesn’t pull its punches either, something that Pitchford thinks might present some difficulties later down the line.

At a recent event in London, Pitchford asked journalists not to film the new trailer that Gearbox had put together, saying that it didn’t want Take-Two to be “punished” for Gearbox’s creativity. The trailer apparently featured: strippers, nudity, gratuitous swearing, curse words rendered in massive letters, giant aliens getting punched in the junk and Duke getting pleasured by two girls at once. Demonstrating a mastery of understatement, Pitchford said the ESRB and PEGI would likely not approve of the content.

Obviously, without seeing the trailer, it’s hard to say anything concrete about it, but the description doesn’t sound like a game that’s coming out without some tweaking first. It seems like Gearbox has really embraced the idea of Duke as an over the top, hyper-masculine pastiche, but it might have to be toned down before it hits the shelves.

Source: CVG