Maverick Games is pulling back the curtain on Clutch, its high-octane open-world driving game, with a livestream showcase this Thursday, June 25. The session kicks off at 9am PDT, noon EDT, 5pm BST, and 2am Friday June 26 AEST on YouTube.
Studio founder Mike Brown, who directed Forza Horizon 5 and designed Forza Horizon 4, will host the event alongside art director Ben Penrose. Penrose's pedigree includes work across multiple Forza Horizon titles, from the original through the latest iteration. Together they plan to walk viewers through the game's narrative arc, cast, and driving mechanics.
The livestream will showcase three distinct racing flavors: the high-speed R1K pro circuit, the underground street racing culture of the Midnight Collective, and adrenaline-soaked heist sequences filled with gadgetry and vehicular mayhem. That last piece separates Clutch from traditional racing sims. Players will wield tools like grappling hooks during chases and heists, blending arcade action with driving sim foundations in a way that echoes Forza's open-world approach mixed with Need for Speed's street racing edge and Fast & Furious spectacle.
The game sprawls across a Mediterranean map inspired by the French Riviera, anchored by three city hubs: Monaco, Cannes, and Saint-Tropez. The setting provides the backdrop for everything from exotic open-road drives to traditional circuit races to heist-driven action sequences. This tonal variety suggests Maverick Games is aiming for something broader than a single racing archetype.
Clutch launches Spring 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The delayed release window gives the studio time to refine mechanics and narrative, though it also means racing fans won't get their hands on the title for well over a year.
Author Emily Chen: "A Forza Horizon veteran steering a game that wants to be part racing sim, part heist action movie is either brilliant or bloated, and Thursday's stream should tell us which."
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