Amazon abandons open-world racing game by former Forza Horizon devs

Source: Engadget

Background

An open‑world racing game from a studio formed by ex‑Forza Horizon developers was due to be published by Amazon, but that is no longer the case. As reported first by The Game Business, UK‑based Maverick Games is now in “active dialogue” with prospective new publishing partners for its currently untitled debut game, which remains in development.

Maverick was founded in 2022 by Mike Brown, who served as the Horizon series’ creative director during his stint at Playground Games, and was able to attract a number of other ex‑Playground veterans to join the new studio. Little was publicly known about the game Amazon picked up, but shortly after Maverick was established Brown told GamesIndustry.Biz that his ambition was to make a game that was AAA, premium and eventually released with the intention of “winning all the awards.”

Amazon’s Decision

“As part of our strategic evolution to focus on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale, including the recent re‑launch of Luna and our Tomb Raider franchise partnership with Crystal Dynamics, we have decided to release Maverick Games from their publishing agreement with Amazon Game Studios,” a Amazon Game Studios representative said in a statement to The Game Business.

“We have tremendous respect for the Maverick Games team and the compelling narrative‑led driving experience they’re creating,” the company added. “This decision allows Maverick Games the flexibility to find a publishing partner whose strategic priorities are better aligned with bringing their game to market. We’re proud of what we accomplished together during our partnership and wish them every success in the future.”

Impact on Amazon’s Gaming Strategy

Amazon’s push into gaming has yielded mixed results. The company remains committed to developing its Luna streaming service, but its track record as a publisher and developer has been uneven:

• 2020’s free‑to‑play multiplayer shooter Crucible vanished quickly.
• The MMO New World has been more successful, though Amazon is winding down support for the game next year (source).
• The future of the company’s Lord of the Rings MMO is unclear; last year’s cuts to Amazon’s MMO division also affected the team working on that title (The Game Business).

Recent Amazon Gaming News

• Earlier this week, it was announced that the Amazon Games‑published co‑op dungeon crawler King of Meat will shut down on April 9, less than a year after its October 2025 launch (source).
• Amazon still has a pair of Tomb Raider games on its release slate, one of which is a reimagining of the original 1996 entry.