Take-Two Interactive were hoping to give 3DRealms a juicy carrot to motivate them to complete the long-delayed Duke Nukem Forever. The carrot? Half a million dollars if finished before the end of 2006. Apparently it wasn’t a juicy enough carrot, as 3DRealms turned their nose up at it according to 1Up.

Broussard indicated he “thinks” the promissory note was part of a renegotiated agreement with their publisher, but expressed frustrations over reportedly inaccurate stories being passed around and claims it’s all irrelevant. “We’re certainly not motivated by that amount of money, after all this time, and getting the game right is what matters. I would never ship a game early (even a couple of months), for 500k,” says Broussard.

Stay tuned, Take Two may increase that to a $500,001 to see if they bite.