THQ Nordic acquires IP rights to classic combat racer Carmageddon
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 origin
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.