Ex-Forza Horizon developers start their own studio and work on an open-world game

Six former Playground Games employees have started the new studio Maverick Games. This studio is based in the United Kingdom and is working on an ‘AAA open world game’. The game ‘does not necessarily’ contain racing, the makers say.

Forza Horizon 5’s creative director Mike Brown will lead the development team. He says to Games Industry to have started the new studio, because after his work on Horizon 5 he was ready for something new. The company has only recently existed and says it has enough money to make its first game thanks to a London investor.

Maverick Games has not yet said what kind of game it is, only that it will be an ‘AAA open world game’. Playground Games has only developed the Forza Horizon racing titles so far, but even though most of the team comes from that studio, Brown says the new game will “not necessarily” be a racing game.

In the interview, Brown also says that he looks at how gamers are gaming now and points to, for example, the rise of subscriptions such as Xbox Game Pass and cheaper games at, for example, the Steam Sale. As a result, game makers would have to fight more for players’ attention. Brown therefore wants the game not to become repetitive, ‘but that players always have something to do’. It is not known when the game will be released. The game is available for both PC and consoles.