Gearbox and Bobby Prince have come to an agreement over the use of Duke Nukem music.
In 2019, Robert “Bobby” Prince filed a lawsuit against Gearbox, alleging he owned the copyright on some of the music in 2016’s Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour, itself a remaster of the 1996 original.
Prince believed the use of his music in the earlier Duke games was subject to a licence agreement between Prince and 3D Realms. Thus, Gearbox did not own the rights to certain music it thought it owned the rights to.
Duke Nukem 3D World Tour gameplay – The Duke goes to Amsterdam! Watch on YouTube
Back in 2015, Borderlands maker Gearbox retained the rights to the troubled Duke Nukem franchise after a messy lawsuit with 3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment over the Duke Nukem intellectual property.
Previously, 3D Realms sold Duke Nukem to Gearbox, who finished development on Duke Nukem Forever and released the game in June 2011 – 15 years after the release of Duke Nukem 3D.
3D Realms was then bought by Danish developer Interceptor, who teased a game called Duke Nukem Mass Destruction. Gearbox sued 3D Realms, who later revealed isometric action game Bombshell, an altered version of Duke Nukem Mass Destruction without its titular character.