Duke Nukem Forever, the long-awaited sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, has reportedly hit torrent sites ahead of release. The leak, orchestrated by the "Complex" scene group, sees Duke in the hands of gamers days before its June 10th release date.
According to TorrentFreak, the leak came only a few hours ago. While many files have been uploaded all claiming to be a DNF leak, this is the first download that has been confirmed as legitimate by a reliable source.
DNF"s development has been ongoing for nearly 14 years. Although the original developers left the business in 2009, Triptych Games and Gearbox Software were able to pick up the work and carry on. Since then, the game has been announced as coming to Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, along with the planned Windows release.
A limited demo has been released with disappointing feedback. Kotaku user "Sugoi" said that "the entire thing seem[s] awkward," and HouseholdHacker said the demo was "pretty lame". The leak could prove to be the breaking point for Duke Nukem. An incredibly long development history, subpar demo and a leak that could fail to live up to expectations may well mean that DNF is dead in the water.
Fans wishing to see for themselves whether the Duke delivers without downloading the leak will have to wait a few more days. For now, the launch trailer is up online to tide fans over.