It was only yesterday that 3D Realms celebrated Wolfenstein's 17th birthday, but today is an entirely different story. According to various sources online, one of the pillars of gaming has shut down, and all employees have been let go. Once called Apogee, 3D Realms has been responsible for some of the most classic of games, like Rise of the Triad, Commander Keen, and pioneer of the FPS genre in general with Duke Nukem/Wolfenstein 3D. While there is no confirmation yet, former 3D Realms employee Charlie Wiederhold, currently at Infinity Ward working on Modern Warfare 2, says the rumor is 100% true and confirmed.

UPDATE: Deep Silver issued a statement saying that Apogee is not affected by the situation at 3D Realms, and that development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned.

UPDATE 2: 3D Realms' Joe Siegler has officially confirmed the shutdown, while Take Two stated it was no longer funding the Duke Nukem Forever development, but retains the publishing rights.