Amazon Games signs publishing deal with Maverick Games for new narrative-led open-world driving game

Miscellaneous Xbox & Games Industry
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Amazon Games signs publishing deal with Maverick Games for new narrative-led open-world driving game

May 29, 2024

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Amazon Games announced today that it has reached an agreement with Maverick Games to publish a new AAA multi-platform title. The unannounced game will be a narrative-led, open-world driving game for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Maverick Games was founded in 2022, by several of the core team behind the critically acclaimed open-world racing game series Forza Horizon, including studio head and creative director Mike Brown, former creative director of the Forza Horizon franchise.

“In our ongoing global search for talented development teams who are building compelling titles that players will love, Maverick Games stood out as a studio that can deliver on all fronts,” said Christoph Hartmann, VP, Amazon Games. “Mike and his team are the total package — proven game developers who are masters at their craft and aren’t content with the status quo. Their vision for this game is fresh and innovative, and we’re looking forward to working alongside them to bring it to players around the world.”

“We founded Maverick Games with a clear vision: to build a developer-first studio that would foster an environment of creativity and risk-taking,” said Brown. “This approach empowers our team to produce the most exceptional work of their careers. And ultimately, that means we are creating a game that our players are going to fall in love with. As we got to know the team at Amazon Games it quickly became clear that we had a shared ethos — a commitment to giving developers the space to really innovate in service of crafting experiences that players will find truly special. Without giving too much away, I will share that the team here is buzzing with excitement about our game and we can’t wait to share it with the world.”

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The Maverick Games Leadership Team

Jamie Brittain, co-creator of the BAFTA award-winning British TV show Skins, is the lead writer on the game, working alongside Maverick Games’ core leadership team, including executive producer Tom Butcher (Forza Horizon series, F1 All-Stars), CTO Matt Craven (Forza Horizon series, GRID, DIRT), content director Gareth Harwood (Forza Horizon series, Fable reboot), audio director Fraser Strachan *(*Forza Horizon series), art director Ben Penrose (Forza Horizon Series, Fable reboot) and Visual Design Director Elly Marshall (Forza Horizon 3, Just Cause 3, DIRT).

Maverick Games, based in Warwick, United Kingdom, is run by award-winning studio leader Harinder Sangha (Sega Hardlight, Sumo Leamington) as COO, and currently has a team of more than 60 people. Sangha, also a board member at UK interactive entertainment (Ukie) and an advisory board member at Women in Games*,* and Brown are actively hiring talent to build out the team, with many roles open now.

Check out this additional interview with Brown, who shares more insight into the studio’s vision for its upcoming game.

This unannounced game joins a growing Amazon Games portfolio that includes RPGs New World and Lost Ark, both of which have topped Steam and Twitch charts and continue to nurture active player communities. Upcoming Amazon Games titles include the next major entry in the Tomb Raider series, developed by Crystal Dynamics; a new Lord of the Rings MMO, developed by Amazon Games Orange County; and THRONE AND LIBERTY, developed by NCSOFT, which is coming to the West later this year. The collaboration with UK-based Maverick Games also comes as Amazon Games is expanding its footprint in Europe, having just announced a new development studio in Bucharest, Romania earlier this month.

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Ahh good, get some more competition out there, Forza’s might lose their thrown… and a whole bunch of available 18/6’ers :sweat_smile:

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They’re revealing it in half an hour!!

See X for a few teaser shots:

Livestream:

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Well that sure was interesting! It’s like they include a lot of what Forza didn’t or couldn’t do: Interior customization including an Event Lab-like feature to add accessories, neon lighting, exhaust customization, better exterior customization, Unreal engine with high detail including character models and there are police chases!

I’m keeping my eye on this one. Some competition is good!

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Visually great. Exterior/interior tuning great.

Flabbergasted about “spidercar”. Never liked nitrous in games (well, maybe how it was done in GranTurismo).

Waiting for more info (gameplay, cars, tracks) + some videos which will show most important thing - physics.

And honsetly my biggest surprise is Mike Brown in the lead. I thought he was main villain.

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please leave this topic open for 24/48hours for visibility, keep any conversation under the link below

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Didn’t they get dropped by Amazon and have no publisher atm? Thought I read that a while ago.

UE is a bold move Cotton, known issues that don’t suit racing games

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I was considering it until I saw this…

…there are police chases

Well, that’s a dealbreaker for me.

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The game was shaping up really well as a combination of the best elements from Forza Horizon and Need for Speed: Underground, until I saw that harpoon/grappling hook maneuver used for taking corners… it really ruined the vibe for me. It’s a shame, because I think everyone expected FH6 to introduce more features and content connected to the Fast & Furious universe. That game could have been exactly what we had all been hoping for.

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Just watched and saw the grappling hook. Oh dear.

Can’t see it being a rival for horizon but given the poor reception the last number of nfs games received it might appeal to that audience

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I think the Clutchtech gadgets (what they call it) will only be used for missions but we’ll find out soon enough. If racing is still based on skill or separate modes will allow gadgets I don’t see a problem with it.

I watched some YouTuber videos who were invited and got to play the game and they were excited, especially about the map.

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Probably so. If even those rather immature smoke, crash, and other visual effects didn’t put people off, then they’ll probably welcome the grappling-hook mechanic with open arms.

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Hopefully your intuition is right. As an additional feature in a story mission, it would still be acceptable. I’m eagerly waiting for more information.

From a competition and business perspective, Playground Games should probably make a quick decision to add Fast & Furious-style tuning features before the release of this potential rival, so they don’t lose their position in the market. Having a huge number of cars available simply won’t be enough to keep players engaged if they’re offered an alternative game with a compelling progression system for unlocking new cars, visually impressive customization, and atmospheric street races straight out of Fast & Furious.

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I actually have a lot less trepidation than I did when this project was first announced. I was very worried it was going to be an inferior Horizon clone, especially with Brown at the helm, and in some ways, it is copying Horizon’s homework, but I am glad it’s doing other things to see it apart from Horizon. In fact, with Need for Speed out of the running, and Horizon and the Crew not willing to include anything resembling a seedy underbelly, I think we’re overdue for a more action-based racer with licensed cars that doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel too much, unlike Screamer.

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I have to admit I didn’t watch the trailer, but…

UE5. Hard pass.

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Why?

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It’s the cancer of the industry. Most UE5 games have horrible performance, upscaling is pretty much mandatory if you want high quality graphics settings, on a current generation card. There are exceptions but they are far and few between.

FH6 runs like a rocket compared to the average UE5 games. Borderlands 4 anyone?

Edit: typo.