In their never ending conquest of owning all of the classic video game IP’s, THQ Nordic has announced that they have acquired yet another one, this time the old school combat racing simulator, Carmageddon. The company released statement announcing the acquisition, but like their other purchases this year, did not mention what they intend to do with it. Once again, we’re left scratching our heads on what the company’s long term plans are.
Carmageddon originally launched in 1997 for the PC, and at the time was one of the most popular racing games on the market. This was due to the fact that the game had unique twist, where in addition to racing for first place, you also had to contain the competitors by causing as much chaos as possible. However, the game also became embroiled in controversy when it was released, as the UK British Board of Film Classification did not approve of the vehicular manslaughter that was represented in the game.
Therefore, Stainless Games, the original developer, was forced to change out people for green-blooded zombies. Ten months later, the company successfully appealed the uncensored version and it was eventually released in the UK. Carmageddon produced three sequels, with the most recent one being Carmageddon: Reincarnation in 2015, which was updated for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, repackaged as Carmageddon: Max Damage.
The company has already purchased numerous rights to other franchises this year, including Time Splitters, Second Sight, Kingdoms of Amalur, Alone in the Dark, Act of War, as well as indie developers Coffee Stain and Bugbear Entertainment. On top of that, they have also had record year, raking in an insane amount of money. Needless to say, THQ Nordic has an appetite for a gaming monopoly type junction, and with this many developers and video games, they’re well on their way to accomplishing this goal. Carmageddon is the most recent one, and with just a few weeks left in the year, they could potentially squeeze out another purchase or two.