Forza Horizon Veterans Unveil Cinematic Open-World Driving Game Clutch
The pedigree of the team behind Forza Horizon 5 makes Clutch a notable new entry in the open-world racing genre, especially for its explicit focus on cinematic storytelling and family drama.
Reporting from 1 sources: 4Gamer.net.
Maverick Games, the independent studio founded by former Forza Horizon creative director Mike Brown, revealed Clutch at Summer Game Fest 2026. The game blends a narrative-driven story with an open world inspired by the French Riviera, featuring day and night cycles that shift between professional racing and underground street races. It follows the Marcial siblings and is built on Unreal Engine 5 with a custom physics system.
Maverick Games, an independent studio founded in 2022, is led by Mike Brown, the creative director of Forza Horizon 5. The team's debut project, Clutch, was shown at Summer Game Fest 2026 Play Days. The game is described as a "AAA cinematic open-world narrative action driving game," aiming to balance a crafted story with driving freedom. Its setting is a fictionalized French Riviera, including an expanded version of Monaco, with underground tunnels and elevated roads creating a dense map. Daytime features official racing circuits, while nighttime introduces the Midnight Collective, an underground street racing group. The story centers on the Marcial family, with siblings Theo and Cass, and themes of family breakdown and rebirth. Performance capture is used for the characters. The driving model is described as "simcade," built on Unreal Engine 5 with a custom physics system.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.