Several developers from Forza Horizon developer Playground Games have left Microsoft and formed a new studio called Maverick Games. After EurogamerDepartures include former Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown, Playground lead producer Tom Butcher, technical director Matt Craven, technical art director Gareth Harwood, art director Ben Penrose, and audio director Fraser Stachan.
The studio is already working on its first game, having secured “significant” seed funding, a new “premium open-world game” for consoles and PC.
“For gamers we are already working on an exciting title of the highest quality, and for developers we are building a home where everyone is encouraged to take risks, be curious, be creative, be innovative, be yourself and above all — be a Maverick,” the developer said in a statement.
The departure of several key Playground Games employees comes at a time when a team within the studio is focused on rebooting Fable, a project fueled by sheer passion for the franchise, according to Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty.
“They had a particular passion for the IP and they also showed they understand what Fable is about and how to take it forward for today’s sensibilities,” Booty said in an interview last year. “Some of the things I’ve seen are so encouraging. They have a great technological base and they just have such a demonstrated commitment to quality craftsmanship.”
There has been a remarkable number of major changes in the industry in recent years, with these developers founding their own studios. Striking Distance, the studio founded by Glen Schofield, published The Calisto Protocol last year, Toshihiro Nagoshi, the creator of the Yakuza series, founded Nagoshi Studio under NetEase, and most famously, Hideo Kojima, the creator of Metal Gear Solid, Konami left a few years ago and Kojima founded Productions, which is currently working on Death Stranding 2.
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