A few days ago a countdown clock was spotted on the Carmageddon.com web site, launching rumors that a revival of the controversial driving action game series is getting close to an announcement. Now the VG247.com web site is reporting via unnamed sources that there is indeed such a game in the works but that it will be an "independent project". The story doesn"t name a developer or publisher for the project.
The report also claims that the rights to the Carmageddon franchise have been purchased from its supposedly former owner Square Enix. The report doesn"t name names. It also claims that the Carmageddon.com web site is not owned by Square Enix. However a quick WHOIS check on the Network Solutions web site still shows Square Enix Europe as the registrant on the Carmageddon.com site. It"s possible that the WHOIS search is using outdated info.
At the moment the countdown clock indicates that Wednesday, June 1 will be the day where the clock reaches zero. That"s just a few days before E3 2011 begins. However, VG247.com claims that the game won"t be shown at E3, despite the timing of the countdown clock. It also hints that Stainless Games, the original development team behind the first two Carmageddon titles, won"t be involved in the making of the new version.
As we reported a few days ago, the Carmageddon series generated a ton of controversy in the 1990s. The game"s premise of having players drive through innocent pedestrians for more points got the game censored in some countries and outright banned in others.