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How modders brought Ion Fury to life

The Vice President of 3D Realms on how a community of modders helped create Ion Fury.

Donovan Erskine

August 28, 2019 5:00 AM

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3D Realms is best known for their shooters that hit the market throughout the 90’s such as Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. However, the company is still around and making video games today. We got to speak with Frederik Schreiber, the Vice President of 3D Realms about the creation and influences behind their latest title, Ion Fury. 

Ion Fury is a prequel to 2016’s Bombshell. When designing the game, the team at 3D Realms thought it would be a neat idea to make Ion Fury look as though it came out before Bombshell. Because of this, they utilized the classic art style that’s synonymous with some of their greatest hits.They went to great lengths to ensure that the old school experience felt authentic, but Schreiber did admit that a 90’s era computer would probably blow up if it tried to run Ion Fury. 

Help Wanted

When designing and programming Ion Fury, 3D Realms turned to some unlikely allies for help making the game a reality. “We reached out to a community of mappers and modders.” There are still groups of dedicated players making content for Duke Nukem and Shadow Warriors - Ion Fury would be their opportunity to finally work alongside 3D Realms.

Schreiber also tells the story of how the game was originally titled “Ion Maiden” after a weapon from Bombshell. However, a pending lawsuit from the popular band “Iron Maiden’ led them to change the title late in the development stage.

If Ion Fury looks like your kind of game, you’ll be glad to know it’s available now for PS4, XB1, PC, and Nintendo Switch. For more on the game, check out our review Make sure you subscribe to the Shacknews and GamerHubTV Youtube channels for more developer interviews.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_