Maverick Games, a studio built around a core of Forza veterans, including founder and chief executive Mike Brown, has landed a new publishing deal with Focus Entertainment for its upcoming open world racing game, Clutch. The game is set to launch in spring 2027.
Amazon Games publishing exits paved the way for Focus Entertainment
Clutch’s road to a new publisher started with Amazon. Back in 2024, while the game was still unannounced, it landed a publishing deal with Amazon Games. That arrangement didn’t last, though. As Amazon went through a wave of layoffs and studio closures, the company ended its publishing deal for Clutch, sending Maverick out to shop the game around to other potential partners. That search has now landed the studio a deal with Focus Entertainment instead.
Clutch itself was officially announced at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, giving players their first proper look at the project after it had spent time in the background amid the publisher shuffle.
Focus Entertainment Clutch deal framed around creative ambition
Announcing the new partnership in a press release, Focus Entertainment’s deputy chief executive Vincent Chataignier described the company’s approach as seeking out creators actively redefining their genre, positioning Mike Brown and his team as among the defining creative voices in racing games today, and framing Clutch as embodying exactly the kind of creative ambition Focus Entertainment wants to back.
Amazon continues stepping back from game publishing
Clutch’s shift away from Amazon fits into a broader pattern at the company, which has been gradually winding down most of its publishing agreements. That process continues elsewhere too: Amazon is set to shut down New World: Aeternum in late January, while also handing off publishing duties for Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty to their respective development studios, Smilegate and NC, as Amazon exits the publishing side of both titles entirely.
