Last updated on January 9th, 2026 at 04:39 pm
Described as a spin-off from the original series released in the late 1990s and 2000s, we’ve now seen Carmageddon: Rogue Shift announced as part of the PC Gaming Show, with a planned release in Early 2026.
It’s being developed by Italian developers 34BigThings, who are most well-known for the Redout futuristic racing series. And was teased in November with a censored title on the Steam listing, along with a very short teaser trailer. But now we know it’s coming to the PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2.
The title of the game refers to the biggest difference from the controversial original, with a new roguelite campaign which challenges you to earn credits by killing zombies and performing stunts which can then be spent repairing your car, swapping weapons or installing one of more than 80 perks.
Each campaign run will be through a new randomly generated route. And when you die, that’s it for your character. You’ll have to start again as a new driver, although you can earn Beatcoins to unlock permanent bonuses and content that is carried over between each attempt.
You’ll be able to choose from 15 vehicles covering front, rear and all-wheel drive options, along with 13 weapon classes including shotguns and railguns. Both cars and weapons are upgradeable, and complimented by the range of perks.
Of course, you can just crash into your rivals as well, and the visual damage model will show the results as you race. There’s also dynamic weather and a day-night cycle to complicate matters, with rain making the road slick, and fog hiding potential ambushers. The difficulty of the game will adapt dynamically, with elite events and boss battles to also challenge you.
The original series of Carmageddon games were developed by Stainless Games, and inspired by Mad Max and Death Race 2000. Originally intended to be a licensed tie-in to a sequel Death Race film in the 1990s, the first game was released for the PC and Mac in 1997 as Carmageddon after the movie was cancelled, and saw a couple of sequels, along with seperate mobile games. Stainless attempted to reboot the series in 2015 with Carmageddon: Reincarnation and Carmageddon Max Damage, before the IP rights were acquired by THQ Nordic in 2018 and which later led to themed content in Wreckfest.
Along with your race rivals and a corrupt police force known as the Enforcers, Carmageddon: Rogue Shift also features large numbers of zombies known as the Wasted.
The original Carmageddon awarded points for running down pedestrians, but this led to the game being banned or censored in various countries, with the human victims being replaced by zombies or robots.
The new game is set in 2050, which might be a nod to the direct-to-video Death Race 2050 produced by Roger Corman as a remake of the original Death Race 2000 released in 1975 (there was also a spin-off Death Race film series which kicked off in 2008 with a film starring Jason Statham, and three further sequels ending in 2018).
You can wishlist Carmageddon: Rogue Shift for the PC on Steam, and there’s a pre-release sweepstake competition running for global rewards. And you can keep up with the latest Carmageddon: Rogue Shift news, updates and more, here.
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