Maverick Games, the studio founded by Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown, has officially revealed Clutch, an open-world racing game that is setting its sights on both Forza Horizon 6 and GTA 6 territory. The reveal landed today, June 2, and it is already one of the more interesting racing game announcements in years.
Full interior customization in Clutch
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Why this reveal hits differently
Here's the thing: Maverick Games is not some new studio trying to punch above its weight. Brown and his team built Forza Horizon 5, which means they know exactly what they are going up against and exactly where the gaps are. Clutch is not trying to copy the Forza formula. It is trying to break it open.
The game is set on what appears to be the French Riviera, a location dripping with the kind of glamour that makes Forza's festival format feel right at home. But the story goes somewhere Forza never dared. The two lead characters, a brother and sister, get pulled into a century-old motorsport series called the R1K while also running with a street-racing crew called the Midnight Collective. The protagonist also ends up performing automotive heists and getting into police pursuits after getting into some unspecified trouble.
That crime layer is where GTA 6 comparisons come in. Clutch is not a GTA clone, but the heist-and-pursuit structure gives it an edge that pure racing games have never really committed to.
Bond gadgets, aging car models, and the interior customization nobody asked for but everyone wanted
The reveal trailer showed a grappling cable that fires from the front of the car, letting players slingshot around lampposts mid-chase. That single detail tells you the tone: this is a game that takes its cars seriously but is not afraid to have fun with them.
What most players miss in early racing game reveals is the detail work on the car models themselves. Clutch is showing realistic signs of age and wear on its vehicles, which is a meaningful step beyond the showroom-fresh aesthetic most racing games default to.
The real talking point, though, is interior customization. Clutch lets players modify their car's interior with official manufacturer options, aftermarket seats and steering wheels, and personal clutter like coffee cups, parking tickets, trinkets, and discarded hoodies. Forza, Gran Turismo, and every other racing game on the market stops at the exterior. Clutch is going further.
The Leamington Spa racing game arms race
Maverick is not the only ex-Playground Games studio building an open-world racer. Lighthouse Games, led by Playground founder Gavin Raeburn, is also deep in development on a competing project. Both studios are based within a couple of miles of Playground Games itself in Leamington Spa, UK. The people who defined the Forza Horizon series are now its biggest competition.
A follow-up Clutch trailer is confirmed for Summer Game Fest on June 5, where Brown has said the game's characters and location will be formally unveiled. The Riviera setting seems locked in, and there is speculation the map could extend into northern Italy, which would echo how Forza Horizon 2 handled its European setting.
The open-world racing genre has been Forza Horizon's territory for over a decade. Clutch is the most direct challenge to that position the genre has seen, and it has not even shown gameplay yet. Keep an eye on the June 5 reveal for the full picture. For more gaming news and coverage as the Summer Game Fest announcements roll in, the gaming guides hub is a good place to stay up to speed.
