It’s not unusual for seasoned developers to leave their studios to create their own businesses, and we saw it happen again today when many Playground Games developers left the firm to join their own studio. Maverick Games is the new firm helmed by Mike Brown, the creative director of Forza Horizon 5 and a veteran of Playground Games.

Brown is one of numerous former Playground employees who have joined forces to build this new studio, with the majority of them holding higher-level jobs. These include executive producer Tom Butcher, chief technological officer Matt Craven, content director Gareth Harwood, audio director Fraser Strachan, and art director Ben Penrose.

In a press statement, the studio stated that “our objective is for Maverick Games to be a studio people will enjoy,” and that they had acquired “substantial initial money” and had began production on their first project. The studio’s debut game will be a “premium open-world game for consoles and PC,” according to what is known. They also discussed their hopes for what they can offer developers, stating that they want to foster a studio atmosphere that encourages developers to take creative chances, experiment, be themselves, and “be a Maverick.”

Playground Games was created in 2010 and is most known for its work on the Forza Horizon series, with the most recent installment, 2021’s Forza Horizon 5, receiving both praise and success for its amazing graphics and gameplay. A different team in the company is now working on the next installment in the famous Fable franchise, which was announced in 2020 and has been in production for several years. At the moment, little else is known about the title.