In an interview with “Game Business”, creative director mike brown Touching on a topic that could be considered the elephant in the room clutchor its relationship with the Playground Games series, the developer clarified that the game It’s not intended to “kill” Forza Horizon, but rather to focus on some aspects that could be considered a bit weak. In the Xbox Series.
Clutch positions itself as an open-world driving game, which has already drawn direct comparisons to the famous Playground Games series: Brown himself, on the other hand, was the creative director of Forza Horizon 5, so the connection was a natural one, but one he immediately wanted to play possible competition.
The director admitted that there are obviously different touch points, and the two games will inevitably be compared, but the “Clutch” project Not Born to Be “Forza Horizon Killer”but something different and in some ways even better.
Something new, pointing to a different aspect
“Obviously, we have similar gameplay in our games: you can still drive beautiful cars in stunning environments, but Forza has never focused specifically on characters and plot” Brown explained.
“It’s something that the series has been sorely lacking historically, but it’s something that people love. It’s weird, in a weird way, to add that element to the genre, No one has ever done this before – at least not recently, and certainly not in a good way – I think it does have extraordinary appeal. ”
Clutch, a new open-world driving game from the former director of Forza Horizon, revealed in trailer
As such, Clutch isn’t looking to clash directly with Forza Horizon, but rather to present an alternative that improves on some of the historically weak aspects of the Playground Games series, and the fact that part of the Maverick Games team hails from the UK Xbox team puts it in an interesting position, as these developers know the subject well.
“We are not that stupid A statement that we intend to kill Forza Horizon. Any game developer aiming to displace a dominant market player faces very high risks,” Brown explained. “What if we changed the game type and said: We’re going to crush “The Final Hour” No one is going to give us the funds to do this because it would be a stupid move. “
At this time we are waiting to know release date Clutch is a game that has now found an official publisher after a one-hour playthrough last June. Currently we only know that it is expected to be available in spring 2027.