In its attempts to develop and release the narrative-centric racing game Clutch, developer Maverick Games has certainly faced quite a few problems, especially after Amazon Games announced that it was no longer publishing the title. Creative director Mike Brown and studio COO Harinder Sangha revealed more details about the team’s hunt for a new publisher before Maverick Games ultimately signed a deal with Focus Entertainment.
Speaking to The Game Business, Sangha expressed a belief that some of the publishers in the market were attempting to take advantage of Maverick Games, offering deals that were quite lopsided and less favorable than the studio’s first deal. This was especially strange, since the team wasn’t looking for development funding. Instead, it was looking for a publisher with a release pipeline to help with logistics.
“As an independent developer… I think there were publishers that thought, ‘Right, we can absolutely take advantage of these guys,’ explained Sangha. “Even sometimes coming out with a rev share that was less favorable to our first deal, which is nuts, considering we didn’t need any dev funding. We were quite taken aback.”
Brown noted that the team presented Clutch to publisher as a project that had already been completed, with a solid release date already scheduled. “We came into it completely confident. As Harinder says, we’re not asking for any dev funding, just publishing services. And there was an option where we just say no to everybody and self-publish. That’s how I wanted them to feel. ‘We don’t need you.’ But some of the offers were actually offensive.”
Sangha went on to note that, “I just want to take the moment to say to all these publishers, we’ll be really happy to speak to you again with our next project.”
Clutch is set to be Maverick Games’ debut title, and was officially announced back in June. The studio made quite a showcase out of unveiling the narrative racing game, complete with a live countdown that, when it hit 0, gave us our first look at the title. The studio has described it as being about “a love of driving, a connection between car and driver, and the raw thrill of speed.”
More recently, Maverick Games took to the Future Games Show during Gamescom 2026 to showcase some of the development and gameplay from Clutch. The video revealed that each car in the racing game would feel unique enough to make it feel different from anything else in the garage. The handling in the moment-to-moment driving is also set to be quite punishing, in turn prompting players to get better at the game with practice.
The main story of Clutch will revolve around a pair of siblings who also happen to be racing prodigies. While competing in the R1K racing series – a “prestigious and historic” series of races – the two find themselves caught in a larger conspiracy that involves several other racing crews, like the Midnight Collective – a group that doesn’t care about money or fame, and instead is made up of driving enthusiasts.
Clutch is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and will be out in Spring 2027.
