Another day, another new studio—this time from the talented folks behind the excellent Forza Horizon 5, which won our best open world award in 2021 (opens in new tab). Maverick Games—big Top Gun fans, clearly—announced its launch today, led by Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown.
Along with Brown, the studio’s founders include several former Playground Games developers, as well as former Sumo Digital co-studio head Harinder Sangha and EA experience design director Elly Marshall.
The announcement was accompanied by a boilerplate quote from Brown, which manages to hit all the classic studio announcement cliches.
“Our goal is for Maverick Games to be a studio people will love,” he says. “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.”
Of course, mavericks are terrible team players and are probably the last thing you’d want in a highly collaborative development studio. Oh no, I’ve become the police chief in an ’80s cop movie telling the hero they’re out of control. Maverick Games, give me your gun and badge.
These loose cannons are already working on their first game: a “premium open-world game for consoles and PC.” That’s all we’re getting for now, but the team certainly has plenty of experience when it comes to open-world romps. While Forza Horizon 5 didn’t come with many surprises, it’s one of the most refined and energetic open-world games around. More of the same, please.
As for their former employers, Playground Games is still supporting FH5, while another team works on the Fable reboot (opens in new tab) that I still can’t quite believe is actually happening.
