Gearbox boss explains Duke Nukem delay

After a 14 year wait, mythical shooter Duke Nuke Forever was finally set to hit shelves this May. Then this morning, via a cheeky video skit, new developer Gearbox announced yet another delay, pushing the game back to June.

A few wags cynically labeled the move as one final witty-but-cruel marketing push. Not so, says Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford – his team genuinely needs more time to add a final layer of polish to the game.

"No trick - we believed May when we announced it," Pitchford told Eurogamer.

"There is always uncertainty and we use experience and trends to help us be predictive. We are not perfect when it comes to predicting uncertain outcomes, but we are perfect at being committed to our goals and working relentlessly towards them.

"I think we may have been able to force May, but we think that would've introduced risks that would not have served gamers who have waited as long as we have to finally play Duke Nukem Forever."

He went on to hail the patience of Duke fans, promising that the delay was in their best interest.

"We are driven by fans who are as anxious for the game to finally be released as we are," he insisted. "The continued support of our fans does miracles for our morale and that drives quality and performance. It's for the fans that I am confident this slight schedule adjustment is the right thing to do.

"Thank you to Eurogamer and its readers for supporting Gearbox in this time of need while we work hard towards Duke's triumphant return."

Duke Nukem Forever now launches on 10th June for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.

Probably.