The studio behind the recently uncovered game Duke Begins is Gearbox Software.

Earlier this afternoon, Shacknews uncovered more court papers from the ongoing Take-Two versus 3D Realms legal proceedings. The fresh filings are from the Duke Nukem Forever publisher in response to 3D Realms countersuit. On the eighth page of counter-counter-claims Take-Two writes:

Under the 2007 Agreement, any modification to the development schedule for the Duke Begins game, following Final Concept Approval (as defined in the 2007 Agreement), is permitted without Apogee's consent provided that both 2K Games and Gearbox (as defined in the 2007 Agreement) consent to the change.

Before this document -- and even leading up to page seven in it -- the developer of Duke Begins has always been referred to as a “third-party developer” or a “well-known videogame developer.” Consider this great mystery solved.

Interestingly, it appears as though Duke Begins hasn’t been canned. In the filings, Take-Two claims it has merely been put on hold. We look forward to seeing it in action at some point in 2040.

[via Shacknews]