Austrian video game publisher THQ Nordic has announced its acquisition of the Carmageddon intellectual property from the creator Stainless Games. The vehicular combat series first started out on the PC in 1997 and was later ported to multiple other platforms. It also received a number of follow-up titles including a reboot in 2015.
Nintendo gamers will most-likely remember the series for the 1999 release Carmageddon 64, handled by Software Creations. It was considered as one of the worst N64 titles of all-time. The publisher behind the port - Titus - was also responsible for the release of Superman 64.
In the past, the Carmageddon series has been targeted by classification boards around the world for its violent gameplay, allowing players to run over pedestrians. In Germany and the UK the game was censored and in other countries, it was banned completely.
THQ Nordic's acquisition of this IP is to enhance its presence within the global video game market. The company now has more than 100 franchises, ranging from Saints Row, Darksiders to Time Splitters. Deep Silver / Koch Media and Coffee Stain are divisions of the THQ group and in total there are fifteen internal development studios engaging close to 2,000 people.
At this point in time, there's no information about what the publisher plans to do with the Carmageddon IP.
Would you like to see a new entry in this series now that THQ has the rights to it? Tell us below.
[source thqnordic-investors.com]
Comments 19
Interesting, it would be good if they could acquire Vigilante 8 and Twisted Metal as well.
Mixing all of the them together could potentially result in a good game.
Great for them!
Now they just need a programming team that can make a port/new game that doesn't have a ton of glitches and/or technical issues, so I can get actually excited about these old IP's coming back...
Battle Chasers: Nightwar for example was a really fun game, but the technical issues really dragged the game down and that's a shame v.v
I hear that people really enjoyed Max Damage, the result of the Kickstarter a handful of years back. But I suppose it didn't quite explode the franchise back onto the scene, and maybe THQ offered a good price for the IP.
Certainly, after buying the name THQ itself, they've been puling out the wallet quite often.
@tourjeff
Raises the very interesting question of why racing franchise cross-overs never really were a thing.
Though I suppose Nintendo pulled some Diddy Kong Racing into Mario Kart with introducing water/air segments, and they certainly absorbed a good amount of F-Zero with MK8.
@NinjaSyao
The first Carmageddon ran beautifully and feature-complete on an iPad six years ago. That game and the two sequel shouldn't be an issue. They have been on Steam for four years.
The latest game is supposedly a bit of a mess though, even if fans were quite happy, so I'm thinking THQ might go for a new game altogether.
Regarding Battle Chasers: Nightwar, while the franchise is old, the game isn't. It's only just one year now, and is a new production by Airship Syndicate, the reformed bit of Vigil Games. It's built in Unity 3D to stay on budget, as it was a Kickstarter project, and it's merely published by THQ. The IP is still owned by Joe Mad himself.
They apparently handled the Switch port themselves at Airship, so there are many explanations to why it probably doesn't run super well. But you're absolutely right that THQ shouldn't be putting their stamp of approval on something lif they don't want to take responsibility.
New THQ like old THQ were both Nintendo supporters, so perhaps a Switch port is coming.
No way! Bring back the original, never raced during that game, always went for the destroying the other cars to win.
One time I even did the kill all the "zombies" on the entire level, that took a while.
Woah, its been a few years since I saw that image in a video game media of some sort!
I used to love Carmageddon.
"Artistic Impression Bonus"!
Sorry, just like twisted metal & grand theft auto I be avoiding this like the plague.
Total disregard for human psychology.😡
@Kawaiipikachu Please elaborate. I’m genuinely interested.
I was pretty young when I played Carmageddon. All I remember was driving a round running over pople lol.
@Kawaiipikachu You and @Anti-Matter are made for each other!
Life was so simple back in the 90s, now if you run people over with a car, they call you a terrorist.
timesplitters on switch would be a dream come true!
Never heard of Carmageddon
I knew of Carmageddon but never played it.
Reminds me of the PC game Quarantine which came out a couple years earlier. You're a taxi driver in a city where it's permanently night time. You pick up all sorts of nutjobs in your taxi and you have buzzsaws and whatnot on your hood in case pedestrians and cars get in the way to your destination.
https://youtu.be/abrKxAHJ7qU
For those who are curious of the original Carmageddon games you get them either on GOG or Steam. I recommend the first two games and Max Damage.
I am a fan of Carmageddon, played 1, 2 and 3 on PC, probably 2 is my favorite, but I still have fun with Carmageddon 64, IMHO it's a good game. I hope that we will see a new one for Switch.
This was a cool series back in the day, though I wonder if it kind of lived it's life already. That kind of thing was really different back in the day, and very arcade, edgey, everything else. I wonder how samey and limited it would feel in the modern landscape. To be different from just "junk I can do in GTA Online" it would have to focus on racing that doesn't suck, or some new mechanic to make it stand out as special.
THQ Nordic has been buying out a lot properties and developers that appeals to niche audiences and cult followings...kinda like the old THQ. Let's hope it ends well.
@tourjeff Okay, you have all the right ideas. Give Vigilante 8 and Twisted Metal to someone who wants to do something with them. A crossover would blow my mind!
This is pretty cool, I was interested in Max Damage when it came out but the lack of local multiplayer really turned me off from it. I hope THQ Nordic takes advantage of some of this IP soon, I need a new TimeSplitters.
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