A small group of Forza Horizon 5 developers has left its developer Playground Games to form a new AAA gaming studio. The name of the new studio is Maverick Games, and it comprises the creative director of Forza Horizon 5 as well. Their first project will be an AAA open-world game for PC and consoles however no details have been shared about the game at this point. Playground Games comes under Xbox Games Studios and the studio is currently working on the next Fable game.
Maverick Games is led by Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown and the work is already underway on their new title. The studio currently has ten people on its team with Tom Butcher, a lead producer at Playground, serving as Maverick Games’ executive producer. Matt Craven, technical director at Playground, will be the chief technical official while Gareth Harwood, a technical art director, will be the content director. Other team members include Fraser Stachan, audio director at Playground, and Ben Penrose, art director at Playground, both of who are serving as technical art director at Maverick Games as well.
The studio will be based in Leamington Spa as well where Playground Games is also located. Mike Brown has given an extensive interview to Gamesindustry.biz in which he has detailed the future of the studio. All major operations of the company are being run by Harinder Sangha who is working as the COO of the company. She has extensive experience in this field, and she is responsible for setting up Sega Hardlight and Sumo Leamington. The company aims to increase its size to 140 from its current team of ten as well. While there is not much to see at this point, you can check out the official website of Maverick Games as well.
What are your thoughts on the formation of Maverick Games and what are your expecting from the company to launch its first project? Let us know in the comments section below.
