Maverick Games’ Clutch puts Theo Martial in Forza Horizon-style driving with 2027 delivery

Mike Brown left Playground Games and founded Maverick Games three years ago, and his first project is shaping up like an alternative universe of Forza Horizon. It’s called Clutch, and IGN’s preview frames it as a more single-player-focused open-world driving game than Forza Horizon, even though it still includes multiplayer. The big pitch for decision-makers is simple: Clutch is aiming to keep the open-world driving muscle people love, while swapping the “festival” identity for a character-led crime-adjacent narrative built around Theo Martial and his sister Cass.

And the schedule matters. IGN says Clutch drops in Spring of 2027, which puts it into the same “long runway” bucket as other major open-world releases, where your first impression has to land before players settle into other habits. The setting is a key part of that landing: the south of France, including Monaco and the French Riviera. It also brings a roster of real-world brands and cars, including Porsche, Aston Martin, BMW, Land Rover, and Renault, among others, which should help the game stay sticky with driving fans who shop by badge and buy by vibe.

But the preview’s real hook is not just geography or branding. Clutch’s story is explicitly about Theo Martial and Cass, and the pair’s car obsession turns them into, effectively, vigilantes doing delivery runs for less-than-above-board people. IGN says you will meet plenty of characters and experience plenty of drama, and it also flags that the narrative is set up to be a significant calling card for the game. That matters because open-world driving games live and die by repeatable loops: races, drives, drifting, and exploration are the engine. A strong character-driven throughline is the fuel that keeps players returning when the novelty of the map wears off.

That throughline is also where Clutch borrows some tone energy from an unexpected reference point: Brad Pitt’s F1. IGN notes this is not about plot points, but about “tone and spirit,” and it says the game’s narrative reminded the writer of F1 because the missions and pacing seem cinematic. In one demo mission, IGN says the objective was to find a rare Aston Martin Valhalla that’s located in a wealthy owner’s penthouse. The premise screams set-piece, and it turns the usual “go to point A, drive to objective” rhythm into an escape mission with friction and timing.

Here’s where gameplay differentiates itself from a straight Forza Horizon clone. IGN explains that, while Clutch is grounded in reality, it is not a pure sim, and it mixes arcadey additions into the “basic arcadey driving formula.” Specifically, the game has a rewind button, which Forza (including Forza Motorsport) is credited with inventing for racing games. But beyond rewind, IGN spotlights a harpoon tool you can fire from the car. The harpoon is described as shootable at any object in the game, and it is positioned as an unexpected escape component rather than a gimmick. IGN also provides a traversal example: firing it at a lamppost on a corner to help you take a turn at higher speed, with a reference to the Tim Burton Batmobile from 1989 Batman.

IGN says there are six total tools to unlock over the course of the campaign, and the previewer only saw the harpoon during the demo. That has strategic implications for how Clutch can keep its driving loop fresh. In a genre where “driving well” is expected, tools become the multiplier: they add new ways to approach corners, reposition during chases, or break the predictable rhythm of route planning. Even if the core handling feel is “similar to Forza Horizon,” tool unlocks are what extend the lifespan of the same driving sandbox across months.

There is also a competitive pressure test in the preview. IGN says the demo ended with a three-lap race where the rival-racer AI is aggressive, and you need to drive smart and drive well to move up to the front of the pack. For an audience that loves arcade accessibility but still wants challenge, aggressive rivals are a lever that can control difficulty spikes, preserve the “race is the main event” feeling, and reduce the risk that the tools replace driving skill. And if Maverick Games is aiming for a Forza Horizon-like handling feel, IGN’s first impression is that Brown and the team have pretty well nailed it.

Finally, the roster and scale question is the “boardroom reality check” for franchise expectations. IGN says it expects a healthy complement of cars from different automakers, but not on the order of the 500+ cars that Forza Horizon brings to the table. That’s not a knock, it’s a design choice with consequences: fewer cars can still be a win if each one is meaningfully different, if the physics and driving are consistently compelling, and if the narrative and mission structure keep players engaged. With Clutch’s Spring 2027 release window, Maverick Games will need to convince players that this is not just another open-world racer, but an open-world racer with a distinct character, distinct tone, and distinct mechanical spice. For peers watching from the sidelines, the message is clear: the next wave of driving games will not only race. They will tell stories, weaponize set-pieces, and make tools feel like plot, not props.