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Former Forza Horizon Devs Start New Studio Maverick Games, Reveal AAA Open-World Title

Former Forza Horizon Devs Start Maverick Games for a AAA Open-World Title

Former Playground Games developers have established Maverick Games, a new studio that will create a AAA open-world game for PC and consoles as its first project. As explained in a press release, the UK-based Maverick will operate out of Leamington Spa and has already secured “significant seed funding.” The team describes its debut project as a “premium open-world game” that is in development now. Although Playground is known for its work on racing titles such as Forza Horizon 5, it’s unclear whether this new game will also be a racing title.

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The Maverick team is led by Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown. Other former Playground colleagues have joined him as various roles at Maverick, including Executive Producer Tom Butcher, CTO Matt Craven, Content Director Gareth Harwood, Audio Director Fraser Strachan, and Art Director Ben Penrose. COO Harinder Sangha and UX/UI Director Elly Marshal round out the team.

“Our goal is for Maverick Games to be a studio people will love,” Brown said. “For players, we’re already at work on an exciting ultra-high quality title, and for developers, we’re building a home where everyone is encouraged to take risks, be curious, be creative, be innovative, be themselves, and above all – be a Maverick.”

Stay tuned for updates from Maverick.


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Image of Michael Cripe
Michael Cripe
Michael joined The Escapist team in 2019 but has been covering games, movies, TV, and music since 2015. When he’s not writing, Michael is probably playing Super Mario Sunshine, Dead Space, The Binding of Isaac, or Doom Eternal. You can follow his news coverage and reviews at The Escapist, but his work has appeared on other sites like OnlySP, Gameranx, and Kansas City’s The Pitch, too. If you’d like to connect and talk about the latest pop-culture news, you can follow Michael on Twitter (@MikeCripe), Instagram (mike_cripe), or LinkedIn if that’s your thing.