Former Forza Horizon director’s new racing game could be revealed next week

Maverick Games, the studio formed by former Forza Horizon creative director Mike Brown and several other ex Playground Games developers, appears ready to reveal its new AAA racing game next week. The studio has started teasing an announcement through social media posts and a YouTube countdown, with the reveal seemingly set for June 2.

That timing immediately makes the project interesting. Forza Horizon 6 is already one of Xbox’s biggest games of 2026, and now a studio led by one of the key creative figures behind Forza Horizon 5 is preparing to show its own premium racing game. It is too early to say whether this will be a direct rival, but the connection is impossible to ignore.

Maverick Games was founded more than three years ago after Brown left Playground Games. At the time, the studio said it was working on an open world, AAA, premium racing game. That alone made racing fans pay attention, because Forza Horizon has had very little serious competition in the open world arcade racing space for years.

Maverick Games still has questions to answer after Amazon left the project

The reveal also comes after a difficult moment for the studio. Amazon Games reportedly abandoned the project earlier this year, leaving Maverick Games searching for a new publisher. That makes the upcoming trailer even more important. It may not only be aimed at fans, but also at potential partners who could help bring the game to market.

The studio’s teaser has taken a strange approach so far, including a livestream countdown featuring a Fiat Multipla. That may be a joke, but it also suggests Maverick wants to show personality rather than simply copy Forza Horizon’s polished festival energy.

That will matter. If Maverick’s game looks too much like Forza Horizon, it could struggle to stand apart. The team has the talent and experience to build a strong racer, but the smartest path may be to create something with a different tone, structure, or progression style. Forza Horizon already owns the colorful open world festival formula. A new racing IP needs its own hook.

There is room for another major arcade racer. The genre has become surprisingly thin at the AAA level. Need for Speed has been inconsistent, The Crew has moved in its own direction, and Forza Horizon has become the default choice for many players who want open world driving. Competition could be good for the whole genre.

The challenge is scale. Forza Horizon benefits from Microsoft funding, Playground’s long running technology, deep car licensing, strong online systems, and a huge existing audience. A new studio trying to compete with that needs more than familiar names. It needs a clear identity, excellent driving feel, strong content, and enough funding to finish properly.

That is why next week’s reveal will be important. A stylish teaser is one thing, but racing fans will want to see the world, the cars, the handling, and the game’s overall pitch. If Maverick can show something fresh, it could quickly become one of the most interesting racing projects in development.

Forza Horizon 6 probably does not need to worry yet. It is already established, already successful, and already has a massive audience. But Maverick Games could still become meaningful competition if it delivers a strong alternative. Racing games need more ambitious challengers, and a new AAA project from former Forza talent is exactly the kind of reveal that can make the genre feel more exciting again.