By Michael McWhertor

It's Official: Duke Nukem Forever Coming From Gearbox In 2011

2K Games has made it official: Duke Nukem Forever is alive and, well, in the hands of developer Gearbox Software, confirming our earlier reports that the Borderlands studio was helping to complete the game's absurdly long development cycle.

The publisher announced this morning in advance of PAX 2010 that Gearbox Software was on the job, picking up where developer 3D Realms left off. Gearbox plans to ship the game on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 within the next year, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal—the WSJ says DNF is due "next year" and "currently expected to ship in 2010." (Update: The Wall Street Journal corrected its conflicting release dates. The game is expected to ship next year.)

Given Duke Nukem Forever's epic development—it was first announced in 1997 as a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D—it might be wise to hedge on the later of those two release windows.

Gearbox and 2K will be showcasing the game to press and the public at this weekend's PAX convention. 2K Games is offering a publicly playable demo of Duke Nukem Forever at its booth.

After more than a decade in development, Duke Nukem Forever all but ended its production after the collapse of studio 3D Realms. Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford tells the WSJ that his studio picked up development in late 2009 and that the game is currently in the "polishing" stages.

Controversial, Long Awaited 'Duke Nukem Forever' Will Finally Be Released [WSJ - thanks, Simon!]