Amazon is Publishing a New Open World Game

Amazon Games will publish the debut title of Maverick Games, a studio founded in 2022 by devs that worked on Forza Horizon. Maverick Games says the title will be a narrative-led, open-world driving game, harnessing all the studios’ development expertise, while Amazon will handle the publishing part. The game will be developed for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC.

Maverick Games is a studio formed in 2022 by a group of veterans from Playground Games, the developer responsible for the Forza Horizon series. Mike Brown, the director of Forza Horizon 5, founded Maverick Games. Forza Horizon 5 is considered one of the best open-world racing games in the industry. In addition to Mike Brown and veterans from Playground Games, Maverick Games’ staff also includes Electronic Arts’ former Experience Design Director, Elly Marshall. Mike Brown says the studio’s goal is “to build a developer-first studio that would foster an environment of creativity and risk-taking.”

The first game by Maverick Games will be a narrative-led open-world driving game published by Amazon. It will be a AAA game for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Mike Brown says that racing games have amazing gameplay and content, but “to become a game that people genuinely love, then there needs to be that human connection where you’re actually rooting for these characters.” The industry is filled with open-world driving games, but few are narrative-driven, even though some racing games have great lore.

Amazon To Publish New Open World Game With Maverick Games Studio

To ensure the creation of these human, flawed, and a bit weird characters, Maverick Games relies on Jamie Brittain, co-creator of the British television drama Skins. Brown emphasizes how his new game will focus on the characters, which should present a different take from other narrative-driven driving games like Pacific Drive, where the car is the main character.

In an official statement, Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, commented that the Maverick team would be the total package. According to Hartmann, the ongoing project has an innovative vision, although it’s still unclear what it’s about. This new AAA game is Amazon Games’ latest endeavor. In 2021, Amazon Games developed and published the MMORPG New World, and in 2022, the company published Lost Ark for the West. Since then, in addition to canceling an MMORPG in the world of The Lord of the Rings, Amazon Gaming has been hit with layoffs.