Borderlands Re-release To Include Early Access To Eventual Duke Nukem Forever Demo

2K Games and Gearbox software announced today that purchasers of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition will eventually get early access to a demo for the long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever. A certificate granting membership in the "Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club" will be included in every copy of the Borderlands re-release, which hits stores next week. The membership will grant purchasers early access to DNF's eventual demo as well as unspecified "exclusive items" and "a wealth of goodies." No specific date was given for the early or general availability of the demo, or of Duke Nukem Forever itself, currently slated generally for the 2011 calendar year. First announced in 1997, Duke Nukem Forever suffered persistent delays until May 2009, when developer 3D Realms finally folded without delivering a playable game. Publisher 2K Games revealed that the project had been re-assigned to Borderlands developer Gearbox with a surprise playable demo at September's Penny Arcade Expo. Packaging demos of upcoming titles with new releases has a long history in the game industry, from the demo for Final Fantasy VII included with 1997 Square Soft fighting game Tobal No. 1 to the demo for Metal Gear Solid 2 included with Konami's 2001 space mech combat game Zone of the Enders, right on through to code for access to the Halo 3 beta included with Crackdown's 2007 release.