One of the more exciting prospects in the world of racing games has finally found a publisher after Amazon decided not to move forward with its deal. Clutch , the brainchild of Maverick Games — a story-led, spiritual follow-up to the Forza Horizon series — is now bedfellows with French outfit Focus Entertainment.

With it, Focus Entertainment, which has supported the likes of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 , Atomic Heart , MIO: Memories in Orbit , and local indie titles like Dordogne , has finally got its first open-world driving game. Clutch is scheduled to come out in spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

It’s been a rocky road for Maverick Games. The company was formed in 2023 by Mike Brown, the former creative director of Playground Games, and it took them just under a year and a half to secure Amazon Games as its publishing partner . Alas, this didn’t work out; The Game Business reported in February that Amazon Games decided not to move forward with the deal, writing in such very human words that it would allow Maverick “the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market.”

It was a shame, too, because the then-unnamed Clutch actually planned to give fans what Forza Horizon has lacked since its inception: a story. Focused on the “double life of a new generation of racing outsiders,” balancing regulated motorsport by day and underground races at night, the narrative comes from award-winning writer Jamie Brittain, who co-created the British TV show Skins .

Vincent Chataignier, deputy chief executive officer of Focus Entertainment Publishing, said: “At Focus, we look to partner with creators who are redefining their genre. Mike Brown and his team are regarded as one of the defining creative voices in the racing genre, and Clutch embodies exactly the creative ambition Focus Entertainment wants to champion.”

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After sinking around 75 hours into Forza Horizon 6 and finding no reason to return (at least, after it finally offered up a Lancia 038 as a season goal), I’m all for a new addition to the line-up.

It’s not without competition, though. Gavin Raeburn, who also left Playground to create Lighthouse Games , another open-world racing specialist — has his eyes on the ultimate prize to dethrone current standard-bearer Forza Horizon . No details are available on that front, even now, but given how Maverick has shifted into third gear, we might finally get a little more meat on those bones.