Former Forza Horizon Creative Director Reveals Open World Racing Game Clutch

Clutch is the new racing game by former Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown, in active development by his new studio Maverick Games. While the Forza Horizon franchise has truly honed into what it does best over the years, its all-in-one, happy-go-lucky car-collecting approach isn't for everyone, and Clutch intends to serve what is often a forgotten niche in racing games.

Though the racing genre at large has largely moved on from police chases, the Need for Speed franchise is still trying to make it happen to limited effect. It's not hard to see why, as its very best games have focused heavily on underground racing scenes and small but heavily customizable vehicle lists. Clutch seems to be going for a similar approach to vehicle racing, albeit with slightly more rounded edges to it.

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By Logan Sawyer

Maverick Games' Clutch Tackles Features Forza Horizon Ignores

Clutch is a racing game that combines pro-tier circuit racing, high-intensity illegal street racing, and — in true Need for Speed style — police chases in one modern Unreal Engine 5 experience. While Forza Horizon 6 finds success in its broadness, Clutch is going in the opposite direction, with some of the most detailed car interiors a modern racing game has yet had. The story is also of major importance in Clutch, with a pair of prodigy sibling drivers acting as its narrative protagonists. All of this combined makes for a wildly different experience than most other contemporary racing games offer and positions Clutch as an interesting concept even though gameplay is yet to be officially shown.

Clutch's focus on car interiors is a surprising and welcome choice. The reveal trailer goes over a number of vehicles' extreme details, even giving players the ability to have a can of Red Bull sitting in their cupholder. "The problem with a franchise that is as successful and, frankly, excellent as Forza is it’s very difficult to go and try and push that thing into a whole new direction because the business would like it to stay in the direction it’s going, because it’s good for business," said Brown in an interview with IGN. "I felt like there was an opportunity to do something different and do something a bit fresher in the genre." In a wider sense, the car lineup and feature set puts Clutch in direct comparison to KT Racing's Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, which may well work in the game's favor in the long run. Solar Crown failed to engage substantial audiences since its release, giving Clutch the room necessary to carve out a niche for itself.

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Maverick Games' reveal of Clutch comes just a few months after its original publishing deal fell through. Clutch was originally financed by Amazon Games, but this didn't work out, and Maverick Games has had to carry on with the development on its own. It's not clear whether Maverick is looking for a publishing deal at this time, but the studio's ambitions are very high. Speaking in the context of the historical successes of Need for Speed, Top Gear, and Fast & Furious, Brown stated that "[these franchises are] the level of ambition for Clutch, to set the tone for car culture across the next decade, and be that tentpole IP that drives culture forward."

Though the Maverick Games' ambitions for Clutch are admirable, its competition isn't going to sit still. Forza Horizon 6 races ever onward with more content updates and patches even if it is a known quantity with few surprises up its proverbial sleeves. The Crew: Motorsport serves as a decent alternative, the various Assetto Corsa games deliver a more simulator-style gameplay loop without overdoing it, and Need for Speed still exists in some conceptual state, to say nothing of all the other niche racing experiences on the market. There's room for Clutch to be big, but delivering on this depth and fidelity-focused identity will be a substantial challenge.