Scott Miller of 3D Realms says the Apogee name is making a comeback and it’s bringing a Rise of the Triad reboot with it.
Apogee Software was founded back in 1987 and developed a name for itself as a pioneer of the shareware distribution model, through which it published the popular Commander Keen and Duke Nukem franchises along with id Software’s breakout title Wolfenstein 3D. In 1994 the company created the 3D Realms label for its first-person games but when the genre began to dominate the videogame industry, powered by releases like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D, it was adopted as a full-time brand, while the Apogee name was set aside.
Gone and mostly forgotten, you might say, but not forever; in a wide-ranging interview with Gamasutra, Apogee/3D Realms co-founder Scott Miller said Apogee is on the way back, along with one or two other names that might be familiar to old-time gamers.
“About a year ago, we licensed the Apogee name to some other business people – one of them had actually worked here several years before,” he said. “They’re reviving the Apogee label, the Apogee name, and they’re doing a Duke Nukem Trilogy of games on the DS and PSP. They’re also going to reboot the Rise of the Triad franchise, plus they have some other original titles that they’re going to be doing.”
As for 3D Realms itself, despite all the drama surrounding the collapse of Duke Nukem Forever and the legal drama that continues to unfold as a result, Miller claimed the company is “fine,” although it’s no longer doing any internal development. “We have, I think at last count, 11 or 12 projects in the works. One of them is coming out next week. Another one is coming out in about six weeks. Both of those are on the iPhone,” he said. “We have some major games in production still. So we’re fine.”
