After the initial announcement that immediately caught the attention of the community, Maverick Games finally offers us a first look at the gameplay of CLUTCH, the new and ambitious arcade racer made by former Forza Horizon Creative Director Mike Brown, arriving in spring 2027.

In the game, the theater of our raids will be a breathtaking reconstruction of the French Côte d'Azur. The developers have recreated a Mediterranean environment full of details, where coastal roads, scenic tunnels and quaint villages merge into a visually impressive landscape. Monaco is the largest location in the game, reproduced with a ratio close to 1:1 and inserted in a network of about 790 tracks to explore.

What distinguishes CLUTCH from Forza Horizon will be a hybrid approach that combines official competitions and clandestinity. In the game we will have to follow the story of two young motoring phenomena, divided between the prestige of the century-old R1K competition and the dangerous activities of the Midnight Collective, an organization dedicated to illegal races and high-risk escapes. The experience will not be limited to a simple succession of races: the game world will integrate a dynamic PvPvE system, where artificial intelligence will generate unpredictable events, chases and objectives in real time. We will therefore have to adapt continuously, improvising our strategies while the surrounding environment reacts to our actions.

Customization will also play a central role, going far beyond simple aesthetic changes. We will be able to intervene both on the bodywork and on the interiors of the cars, creating unique vehicles that reflect our style. Maverick Games has emphasized how the game will reward creativity and aesthetics as much as performance on the track, explicitly recalling the tuner culture and the legacy left by the most beloved chapters of Need for Speed.

We leave you with the gameplay footage, hoping to be able to tell you more about the game during our visit to gamescom in Cologne, at the end of August!