THQ Nordic acquires IP rights to classic combat racer Carmageddon
Crash, bang, wallet.
The seemingly insatiable THQ Nordic has announced the acquisition of yet another beloved, but regrettably dormant gaming IP. This time around, it's classic (and notorious) vehicular smash-'em-up Carmageddon's turn to join the publisher's rapidly swelling ranks.
Carmageddon originally launched in 1997 on PC, amid a wave of tabloid-generated controversy in the UK. The British Board of Film Classification, responsible for handing out the country's game ratings at the time, was not at all happy about Carmageddon's wanton vehicular violence and incentivised pedestrian slaughter. As a result, developer Stainless Games was forced to swap Carmageddon's squishable humans for green-blooded zombies. However, ten months later, after a successful appeal, the uncensored version was released.
Behind the violence though, Carmageddon was a wonderfully entertaining game - a raucous, riotous pile-up of twisted metal in which players fought to be the first across the finish line, extending the constantly ticking clock by causing as much carnage as possible. Three sequels followed, with the most recent, Carmageddon: Reincarnation, arriving to mixed reviews in 2015. An enhanced version, given the new subtitle Max Damage, came to consoles a year later.
THQ Nordic announced that it had acquired the Carmageddon IP in a statement released earlier today. It did not, however, offer any indication of what it ultimately intends to do with it. However, it's perhaps interesting to note that the publisher also recently acquired the Helsinki-based Bugbear Entertainment, a developer that specialises in racing games. Its most recent release, Wreckfest, shared Carmageddon's love of destructive racing chaos, so there's certainly an interesting synergy there should a new game be on the cards.
Carmageddon is, of course, the latest in an increasingly long line of classic IP to be snapped up by THQ Nordic. This year alone, the publisher has stuffed TimeSplitters, Second Sight, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Alone in the Dark, and Act of War into its pockets. It also owns a huge range of THQ properties, including , de Blob, Destroy All Humans, and Darksiders.
The latter acquisition reached fruition last month with the arrival of Darksiders 3, the first new series instalment to arrive under THQ Nordic's watchful eye. Its reception was mixed, however, and the game failed to make much of an impact at retail.