Duke Nukem's Gay Robot Sidekick?

After 14 years of fits and starts of development, another edition of the Duke Nukem game series will be released in June. Randy Pitchford, an executive at Gearbox, the company publishing the game, says the main character nearly ended up with a "gay robot" sidekick in this edition. While he was nixed from the latest game, Duke Nuke Forever, he may appear in the next edition, Eurogamer reports.

"Sexuality is part of the Duke personality," Pitchford said Wednesday in London at BAFTA. He added that the sidekick was pitch as a way to "explore how Duke would relate to a peer that might have a different sexual orientation."

Duke Nuke Forever will be released June 10 for PC, PlayStation 3, and XBox 360.