Forza Horizon 5 devs leave to form new AAA games studio called Maverick Games
Playground Games leaders have left the Microsoft-owned studio to 'take creative risks'
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: Hello, Maverick Games
😮 Key members of Playground games, the developer behind Forza Horizon 5, have left to form a new AAA games studio
🫡 Maverick Games is being led by Mike Brown, the former creative director of the Forza Horizon franchise
📈 Maverick Games currently has 10 employees and aims to grow to 140
🎲 Brown wants to “build a team where we really encourage them to take creative risks”
Key members of developer Playground Games, the team behind Forza Horizon 5 and the upcoming Fable reboot, have left to form their own AAA games studio called Maverick Games.
The new studio is being led by Mike Brown (thanks, Gamesindustry.biz), who was previously the creative director of the Forza Horizon franchise. Forza Horizon 5 is one of the best Xbox Series X games you can buy, and previous entries in the Horizon series have also been praised by critics and fans alike.
Brown is joined by other ex-Playground Games veterans such as executive producer Tom Butcher, chief technology officer Matt Craven, content director Gareth Harwood and audio director Fraser Strachan.
Maverick Games team of 10 employees also includes former Playground Games employee Ben Penrose, who has joined the company from Sharkmob as Art Director, and ex-EA experience design director Elly Marshall, who has been named UX/UI Director.
Chief operations officer Harinder Sangha is tasked with running the studio itself and joins Maverick Games after helping establish Sega Hardlight and Sumo Leamington.
Speaking about his departure from Playground Games, Brown told Gamesindustry.biz that he wanted to create a team where creative risks are encouraged:
“[In 2021] we shipped Forza Horizon 5, which was a thrill to work on. As much as I had an amazing journey at Playground, I was asking myself, what's next? Do I stick with this fun, good job? Or do I look for other opportunities?
“This opportunity came up. I was asked what my vision would be for a new studio... and it was lucky I had an idea in mind.
“It is a truism that you can be creative, or you can be cautious, but you can't be both. You either decide to mitigate risks, which limits creativity, or you embrace risks, which releases creativity. We are going to build a team where we really encourage them to take creative risks, to try new things, and really celebrates that as part of our culture.”
Maverick Games is planning to expand to 140 employees in the future and the studio’s name actually came from Brown’s previous role at Playground Games.
“It's a word that would come up in my performance appraisals. Not necessarily positively [laughs]. But I thought there was a real positive to that, actually. And when I talk about pushing away on caution, encouraging people to be risk takers, to challenge assumptions and not just do something because we've always done it that way… that is maverick. And that is something we encourage all of our team to do. Don't be boxed in by rules that might not even be real.”
Rocky roads ahead for Playground Games?
It’s easy to be concerned for a studio’s future whenever key members of a team depart, but it doesn’t necessarily mean Playground Games’ future will be negatively impacted.
The studio has consistently produced quality entries in the Forza Horizon series, and it’s natural that people craving more creative control would leave after so many entries.
Time will ultimately tell whether Playground Games will be able to replace the talent that has now left to form Maverick Games and whether it will have an immediate or long-term impact on the development of titles like Forza Horizon 6 and the Fable reboot.
Like Playground Games before it, Microsoft could always move to acquire Maverick Games if the studio is successful in the future. Though I sincerely doubt any takeover would come anywhere near to the $69bn Activision Blizzard deal that continues to rumble on despite pushback from the FTC and UK’s CMA.