The rising star of the European publishing scene THQ Nordic has made another acquisition - this time, acquiring the Carmageddon IP.

The move was announced via the website of series developer Stainless, with no figure put on the deal as of yet.

Notably, it doesn't seem that the team at Stainless are part of this deal, though THQ Nordic did recently buy Bugbear Entertainment who launched a similar title to Carmageddon called Wreckfest recently.

The Carmageddon IP began life in 1997 amid a moral panic in the UK. The series returned in 2015 following a crowdfunding push on Kickstarter for Carmageddon: Reincarnation, later released as Max Damage on console in 2016. 

“This deal allows Carmageddon to find the home that it deserves,” Stainless founder and executive chair Patrick Buckland said.

“As an independent developer we have invested a huge amount of time and money into the brand since reacquiring it in 2012, but we have never had the resources to maximise its exploitation. It is our intention to work with THQ Nordic moving forwards, allowing Carmageddon to find its rightful place in the video games pantheon.”

He continued: “This is the start of a new chapter in the story of one of the world’s most anarchic game brands”. Binsmaier concluded by observing that “We are proud of every single addition to the franchise catalogue, so it goes without saying that this is the case here, too”.

THQ Nordic publishing director Jan Binsmaier added: “Carmageddon finally crashed its way into our portfolio. Some pedestrians and a couple of members of the Bovinae subfamily might have (virtually) been killed in the process. With over twenty years of franchise history, and yes, I feel a little older just saying this, and such a passionate and dedicated fan-base worldwide, we are confident we hit the right target.”

We caught up with THQ Nordic's CEO Lars Wingefors at Gamescom 2018 to discuss the firm's massive growth. At the time the company had in the region of $316m in liquid cash to spend on new IP and companies.