Maverick Games just landed a publisher for its debut game, and it isn't the one anyone would have guessed a year ago. Focus Entertainment announced on August 24 that it's partnering with the independent studio to publish CLUTCH, its open-world racer, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. The game is still aiming for Spring 2027, though nobody has locked in an exact date.

For a studio built almost entirely on its founders' reputations, this is the first real sign of infrastructure behind CLUTCH. For Focus, it's the studio's first entry into the open-world racing space. The publisher says it wants to help turn CLUTCH into a major new racing IP rather than just another open-world driving game.

Focus Wants CLUTCH to Be Its Own IP

Focus Entertainment will publish CLUTCH across all three planned platforms, and the company is framing the deal as more than a routine signing. It's the publisher's first entry into open-world racing, and Focus says the partnership is built around a shared ambition to establish CLUTCH as a standout franchise rather than a one-off release.

That matters for Maverick Games too. CLUTCH is the studio's first project, and having a publisher locked in as the game heads toward launch gives Maverick Games an established partner for the next stage of CLUTCH's development and release.

A Racing Pedigree, But Not a Copy

Maverick Games was founded in 2022 by Mike Brown and Harinder Sangha. Mike Brown's was formerly the Creative Director on Forza Horizon 5 and Lead Design Work on several earlier entries in that franchise. That background is exactly why CLUTCH drew attention from the moment it was first teased, a team of people who spent years building one of the best-selling racing franchises around, now doing it on their own terms.

What's interesting is how much CLUTCH is shaping up as its own thing rather than a spiritual sequel to the team's earlier work. The French Riviera setting, and the way Maverick Games is blending racing, social spaces and narrative into one experience, points toward a game trying to carve out its own identity rather than lean on nostalgia for what the studio built before.

Two Lives, One Racing Career

CLUTCH's core hook is a split identity. Players race professionally during the day, then slip into an underground scene built around reputation and pursuit once the sun goes down. It's a structure that sets CLUTCH apart from racers built around a single mode or mood.

Jamie Brittain, co-creator of the TV series Skins, is behind the game's original story, and Focus is pitching CLUTCH as bringing genuinely cinematic storytelling into an open-world driving game. Deep vehicle customization rounds out the pitch, letting players shape both their cars and their progress through the story. Pairing a racing studio's technical pedigree with a television writer's sense of character is an unusual combination, and it's one of the clearer signs that Maverick Games wants CLUTCH judged on more than its driving model.

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A Publisher Change Behind the Scenes

This isn't CLUTCH's first publishing deal. Amazon ended the agreement in February as part of its broader strategic shift in games publishing, while Maverick Games said development of its debut title would continue.

By the time CLUTCH was publicly revealed, Maverick Games was operating independently, without Amazon Games attached. GamesRadar reported earlier this year that shifting publishing priorities at Amazon had affected the studio's plans. Focus Entertainment now takes over as CLUTCH's publisher, giving the project a new home as it continues toward its 2027 window.

Still One to Watch

None of this changes what CLUTCH actually is, but it does mark a meaningful step for the project. Maverick Games has spent years building its debut game, and it now has Focus Entertainment behind it as development continues toward a Spring 2027 release.

Mike Brown's résumé will keep drawing eyes to this project. The more interesting question is whether Maverick Games can take what it learned building one of the industry's biggest racing franchises and turn it into something that stands entirely on its own. CLUTCH is scheduled to launch in Spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.