THQ Nordic buys rights to racing game Carmageddon

Austrian publisher THQ Nordic has acquired the rights to the racing game Carmageddon. The company has acquired the intellectual property of the game from Stainless Games.

THQ Nordic further reports few details about acquiring the rights to the Carmageddon game series. For example, it is not known how much the publisher paid for it or what the company plans to do with it. It is obvious that new versions of the game will be released, although THQ Nordic has not said anything about it.

Patrick Buckland, the founder of Stainless Games, says this agreement will ensure “Carmageddon gets the home it deserves.” He reports that his company put a lot of time and money into developing the game series, but that there was “insufficient money to maximize exploitation.” Buckland says the intention is to continue working on the series with THQ Nordic. He speaks of a “new chapter” in the story of Carmageddon.

Carmageddon dates from 1997 and was once owned by Square Enix Europe. Part two was released in 1998 and Carmageddon: TDR 2000 was released in 2000. In 2011, the original publisher, Stainless Steel, acquired the rights. Versions of Carmageddon were released for Android and iOS in 2013, followed by the Kickstarter-funded PC game Carmageddon: Reincarnation in 2015.

The racing game was controversial in the late 1990s because of the gory violence. In addition to smashing cars, players could also knock over pedestrians, including a first-person perspective where the blood could be wiped off the windshield with the windshield wipers.

THQ Nordic has not been sitting still lately when it comes to purchasing the rights to other people’s games. For example, in September the publisher bought the rights to Kingsdoms of Amalur, followed by acquiring the intellectual property of the Alone in the Dark and Act of War game series. It recently became known that the Austrian company has acquired the developers of Wreckfest and Goat Simulator.