The legendary king of chaotic car combat is making a comeback. Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, the next entry in the long-running destruction-focused franchise, is officially releasing in 2026.
For those unfamiliar with this chaotic franchise, Carmageddon games are what the movie Death Race would be like if it were a game. You get in decked-out cars with weapons, and the goal is to destroy your opponents’ vehicles using crazy weapons. Imagine the Burnout games, but add a rocket launcher on every car.
For players who grew up with the original Carmageddon games, the return feels like a revival of a genre that’s slowly fading away. If you haven’t already, go and check out the trailer.
What To Expect From Rogue Shift’s Big Return
The new game is trying to be a modernized version of what made Carmageddon iconic: extreme vehicle combat, sandbox-style freedom, and a world that basically tells you to wreck everything in sight.
We don’t know much about the gameplay yet, but early info suggests that the game will lean heavily into high-speed collision, destructible environments, and the fun missions that the previous games had.
The major change this time around is the tech. With current-gen hardware, the game should look, feel, and play much better than the previous ones. We have already seen the extent of destructible environments in games like The Finals and Battlefield 6, so imagine a game as destructive as Carmageddon having the same type of physics. And, of course, the game should look significantly more realistic than before.
The game is supposed to have rogue-lite elements, which, to be fair, every game has nowadays. The trailer showed a lot of fun stuff — beautiful tracks and environment, zombie hordes to drive through, weaponized vehicles, and car customization.
Also, Carmageddon has basically no competition in its genre. There aren’t a lot of modern, destructive vehicle combat games out there. Plus, we haven’t had a game like this in ages, so fans are extremely excited. They are even comparing it to games like Twisted Metal.
Of course, we will have to wait for the gameplay reveal to know for sure. It looks promising in the trailer, but we still need the gameplay to be sure. There is no release date; we only know that the game is aiming for a 2026 release.
