Former Forza Horizon Devs Announce Clutch, “An open world driving cinematic game.” – WGB
Maverick Games, founded in 2022, has unveiled its first game ahead of this week’s Summer Game Fest. Clutch is a promising open-world racing game scheduled for release in 2027, which Maverick describes as “an open-world cinematic driving game.”
First, why should you worry? However, Maverick was created by former Forza Horizon developers, including Creative Director Mike Brown, COO Harinder Sangha, producer Tom Butcher, technical director Matt Craven, technical art director Gareth Harwood, sound director Fraser Stachan, and art director Ben Penrose. That’s a solid lineup of talent.
According to IGN, when he first saw the game, Brown said “The problem with a successful and, frankly, great franchise like Forza is it’s very difficult to go and try to push that thing into a new place because the business would like it to stay where it’s going, because it’s good for the business.
Clutch continues as an immersive story, involving two brothers, both racing stars who compete in R1K, in an in-game world considered to be the first place that proves to be for racers. Although everything is allowed, even at night there are illegal street races. The story is written by Jamie Brittain, co-creator of the British TV series Skins, so they really tried to give the game a strong narrative, something Forza Horizon 6 lacked.
Car customization is another big push, including the ability to add flash to the car’s understated Need for Speed vibes. There are also plenty of options for bodywork, adjustable seats and steering wheels and the ability to choose a drink from your cup holder.
Another focus is on damaging vehicles, large and small.
According to Brown, the cars in many other racing games portray the cars as too clean, too clean, and “museum-like”.
“It always leaves the scene in a way that doesn’t sound real. You can’t see that car, on the road, looking like that; it’s never going to be like that. The way it really would be is there’s going to be dust, there’s going to be pieces, there’s going to be carbon around the exhaust. There’s going to be a little wear here and there,” said Brown. “If you look inside it, there was wear on the steering wheel where someone drives this and gripped it, and the leather is sinking into the seats, maybe there would be sun damage to the leather if it’s a soft skull. When you start putting all those details together, the thing just looks real and very popular.”
It looks like Maverick wants to make their cars more popular and believable. Of course, there will still be limitations, and Brown doesn’t seem to have fixed that yet. The reason games like Forza Horizon 6 don’t allow fully wrecked cars is often licensing deals: real-world manufacturers don’t want their cars to be shown that way.
Maverick Games signed a deal with Amazon to serve as a publisher, but Amazon pulled out of that deal last year when it shut down its entire games division, so Maverick now operates as an independent developer.
Clutch will be on display this week, so stay tuned. It sounds promising.
