Forza Horizon veterans bring street racing and circuit competition into one open world with Clutch

Forza Horizon gets a more direct rival

Maverick Games is not just another new studio. Mike Brown, former creative director of the Forza Horizon franchise, founded it, and the team includes people who know open world driving games from the inside. Clutch takes that experience and shifts the tone somewhere darker. Instead of festival cheer, the studio promises a world where an official racing series collides with underground street culture and a criminal car scene.

At the centre of the game is R1K, a fictional racing series with a 100 year history, where two gifted siblings try to make their name. Alongside it runs the Midnight Collective, an underground street racing group that pulls the story away from official motorsport and into riskier territory. Maverick says players will fight for position, reputation and prizes while relationships with teams, rivals and pursuers keep changing around them.

Clutch wants to mix Forza Horizon, Need for Speed and a cinematic thriller

The most interesting promise in Clutch is not simply the open world. The genre already knows that trick. The sharper idea lies in the combination: closed circuits, urban street races, chases, a PvPvE structure and a campaign driven by story. In other words, players will not only compete against each other. They will also have to survive an AI led world, the police and rival crews.

That is where Clutch may find its opening. In recent years, Forza Horizon built its success on freedom, beautiful worlds and approachable handling. Need for Speed carried the emotion of street racing and police escapes, but the series no longer dominates with the same certainty. Clutch tries to drive between them: the polish of Forza, but with a dirtier mood and more narrative pressure. The Drive describes the game as exactly that kind of meeting point, where daytime racing and the night time underworld play different roles.

The car list leans into enthusiast icons

The revealed material showed, among others, the Nissan Skyline GT R R34, Mazda RX 7, BMW M3 GTR E46, Porsche 911 Turbo, BMW 850 CSi, Nissan 350Z, Alfa Romeo 4C, Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Land Rover Defender. That list makes the direction clear. Maverick is not just selling new supercars. It is building a garage fantasy around cult machines from different eras.

The setting draws on the French Riviera. That gives the game a luxurious and believable car culture backdrop: twisting mountain roads, coastal towns, expensive coupés and the after dark street racing aesthetic all fit naturally in that landscape. It partly recalls the Mediterranean mood of Forza Horizon 2, but Clutch promises a more aggressive world, heavier on story and conflict.

Deeper tuning could become the game’s real weapon

Maverick stresses that personalisation will not stop at paint, wheels and spoilers. The studio talks about its own physics engine, deeper vehicle customisation and details that create a stronger bond between car and driver. Traxion reports that early material shows interior changes, aftermarket seats, steering wheels, cabin accessories and brands such as Recaro, Corbeau, Kirkey and HRE Wheels.

That could matter more than another big picture promise. Driving game fans no longer want only to go fast. They want to own, build and show off a car. If Clutch can combine credible handling, detailed visual tuning and a story with enough bite, it could become the first serious new challenger to Forza Horizon in a long while.

What we still do not know

Maverick has not yet revealed the exact release date, the full car list, the price or how strongly the game will depend on a constant internet connection. The studio promises its next larger showcase at Summer Game Fest on 5 June 2026, where we should see more of the story, the cast and the world.

For now, Clutch looks like an ambitious promise rather than a proven winner. But this genre needs pressure. Forza Horizon sat too comfortably at the top of open world driving games for too long. Clutch has the right team, the right cultural direction and an idea sharp enough to disturb that balance in 2027.

Technical brief

Developer: Maverick Games, founded by Mike Brown, whose background includes Forza Horizon.

Genre: Open world cinematic driving action, blending circuit racing, street racing and chases.

Story: Two gifted siblings compete in the R1K series, while the Midnight Collective operates in its shadow.

Game structure: A PvPvE world with handcrafted and spontaneous missions, rivals, pursuers and co op situations.

Platforms and release: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, planned for spring 2027.