Location: Texas, USA
3D Realms was actually started by Apogee in 1994, as a subdivision of theirs. The point was to use 3D Realms to develop new and innovative 3D games.
Even though 3D realms harvested a lot of good fortune for their first ever release,
Terminal Velocity, it was their second game that would push 3D Realms into glory and fame forever. Duke Nukem 3D took the world by storm, and is one of the most popular and known games to this date from any producer.
The engine used in Duke Nukem 3D, called the Build Engine, created by Ken Silverman, is one of the most popular engines for this kind of games. Sales of this engine and Duke Nukem games has made 3D Realms a multi-million industry, and one of the biggest gaming companies of today.
In 1997 3D Realms joined forces with the Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment in order to create Max Payne. Then in 1998 they formed ties with Gathering of Developers (GoD), a Dallas Publisher, and agreed that Max PAyne would be the first game to be published through GoD. Later GoD sold off all their shares and interests to Take-Two Interactive, making them the new publishing home for Duke Nukem Forever & Max Payne.
In later years, 3D Realms took over as the leading company in the Apogee family, and Apogee is today operating under the 3D Realms name.
Over the course of time, 3D Realms has worked with a lot of different companies (not mentioned above) including, but not limited to, id Software, FormGen, GT Interactive, n-Space and Argo Games.