Forza Horizon Developer Launches AAA Studio Maverick Games

It’s not uncommon for developers to leave long-held studio positions and carve out their own paths with new groups. That’s exactly the case for a few people at the top of Playground Games who left the developers of Forza Horizon and Fable to start their own studios. Mike Brown and several other Playground veterans have founded a new AAA game studio, Maverick Games.

GamesIndustry.biz published a report this morning revealing that Maverick Games was founded by a team of former Playground Games developers. The team led by Mike Brown also includes Tom Butcher, Matt Craven, Gareth Harwood and Fraser Strachan. All of this group consists of high-level roles such as Executive Producer, Content Director, and Audio Director. Harinder Sangha will be his COO and Elly Marshall will be his UX/UI Director.

GI.biz also spoke with Brown for more insight behind the creation of Maverick Games. “[In 2021] We shipped Forza Horizon 5 and it was a thrill to work on it,” he told the publication. “As much as I had a great trip with Playground, I was asking myself what’s next. Will I continue with this fun and good job, or will I look for other opportunities?

Brown also said the team at Maverick Games is encouraged to take creative risks with their projects. No word on what the team will create first, but the newly created Maverick Games topic his page will feature all upcoming news about the studio’s operations.