Primal Carnage

Lukewarm Media, an indie development team, announced the game in February 2010, and eventually released it on October 29, 2012. Carnage received "mixed or average reviews" according to Metacritic. A prequel game, Primal Carnage: Genesis, was announced in 2013, but was put on hold shortly thereafter due to disagreements within Lukewarm Media. A complete rebuild of the original game was in development as of 2014. Circle 5 Studios took over the series later that year, and eventually published the rebuild as a sequel in 2015, under the name Primal Carnage: Extinction.

Primal Carnage is an action and online asymmetrical multiplayer game that pits humans against dinosaurs. Both teams have their own set of playable characters, divided into classes. Team members work together, using their own unique abilities to succeed. Gameplay is viewed from a third-person perspective when playing as a dinosaur, while human players experience the game as a first-person shooter. Players on both teams have the option of seeing their teammates through walls. Dinosaurs eat humans to regain health, while humans must reach certain areas to replenish health and ammunition. Dinosaurs can hide in bushes and wait to attack humans, who generally take refuge in a few select, open areas such as a helipad while they defend against the dinosaurs.

The game has five human characters with weapons such as shotguns, snipers, and flamethrowers. One character can throw flares to blind nearby dinosaurs, and others can trap the animals in nets or tranquilize them. The game debuted with five playable dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus, Carnotaurus, and Dilophosaurus. Like humans, dinosaurs also have their own abilities as well, activated by roaring. A dinosaur's abilities can be used to aid themselves or their fellow team members. The Tyrannosaurus can consume humans in one bite, and can offer a health bonus to nearby dinosaurs. Because it is the most powerful dinosaur, the number of Tyrannosaurus players is limited in each game. The Carnotaurus has the ability to charge into humans, injuring them. The Dilophosaurus can blind humans by spitting venom at them. Another dinosaur is the fictional Novaraptor, which has the ability to jump and can pounce on humans. The fifth playable animal is Pteranodon, a member of the pterosaur group which is commonly mistaken for dinosaurs. The Pteranodon can fly and swoop down to snatch humans, before dropping them to their death. It can also locate humans from above and relay those locations to other dinosaur players. Players who pre-ordered the game received a feathered raptor as a bonus playable character. Several new creatures were added in 2013, including Spinosaurus, Cryolophosaurus, Oviraptor, and the pterosaur Tupandactylus.

The game initially had five maps, including a loading dock. It launched with one game mode: Team Deathmatch. Get to the Chopper, a free downloadable content (DLC) pack, was released in 2013. It consists of a new jungle level set during a storm. Human players race down a linear path to reach a helicopter and escape, while dinosaur players try to stop them. The pack also introduced the Spinosaurus. A new game mode, Capture the Egg, was added later in 2013. It plays similarly to capture the flag, with human players sneaking into dinosaur nesting areas.

Primal Carnage was developed by Lukewarm Media, an independent developer consisting of 21 people from around the world. The game was announced in February 2010, and was expected to release for Microsoft Windows and Linux during the fourth quarter of the year. It was originally developed using the Unigine game engine, although the development team switched to Unreal Development Kit (a free version of Unreal Engine 3) later in 2010. This made the release of a Linux version unlikely. The game moved to open beta testing on October 8, 2012, and received a wide release on October 29, 2012, by Reverb Publishing. It was the first game by Lukewarm Media to be published. The game was available for download through its official website, as well as online retailers such as Steam and GamersGate.

In 2013, Lukewarm Media announced plans for a prequel game known as Primal Carnage: Genesis. It would be significantly different from the first installment, playing as a story-driven, single-player game. However, the project was put on hold later in 2013, due to disagreements within the company regarding the project's large scope. As of 2014, Lukewarm Media was working on a complete rebuild of the original game known as Primal Carnage 2.0, which was to be released as a free update. However, Circle 5 Studios took over the series in 2014, and published the rebuild as a sequel and paid update in 2015, under the title Primal Carnage: Extinction. It was co-developed by Pub Games. A virtual reality game, Primal Carnage: Onslaught, was released on December 29, 2016, as an early access title on Steam. It was developed by Pub Games and published by Circle 5 Studios.