CLUTCH mixes professional motorsport, underground street racing, cinematic pursuits and a bespoke driving model across the French Riviera. Following its latest Gamescom 2026 showcase, Maverick Games has now detailed its recreation of Monaco and the realistic, weight-focused handling philosophy behind the game ahead of its Spring 2027 launch.
CLUTCH is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious new open-world driving games currently in development. Created by Maverick Games, the independent British studio founded by former Forza Horizon Creative Director Mike Brown, it combines licensed cars, professional circuit racing, underground street competition, police pursuits and a heavily story-driven campaign across the French Riviera.
The project was formally revealed in June 2026, but Maverick has continued to expand on its scope through gameplay presentations and developer diaries. The studio has explained its custom vehicle physics, confirmed multiplayer and co-op functionality and provided more detail on how its open world works. Focus Entertainment was confirmed as publisher on August 24, while the latest Gamescom presentation has revealed significantly more about Monaco, exploration and the game’s handling philosophy.
A French Riviera open world built around two racing cultures
CLUTCH is set across the French Riviera, with Monaco forming one of its main urban centres alongside a much larger surrounding world of coastal roads, mountains, gorges, vineyards and towns. Areas shown or discussed so far draw inspiration from locations including Cannes, Saint-Tropez, the Alps and the Verdon Gorge.
Maverick provided a closer look at Monaco during Gamescom 2026, with Mike Brown confirming that the studio has represented every road that exists in real-life Monaco. The environment is not being presented as a strict 1:1 recreation, but its road network is intended to remain recognisable to anyone familiar with the principality.
The level of detail goes beyond the streets. Maverick says every individual building in its Monaco environment has been created as a bespoke asset by an artist, rather than building the city primarily from repeated prefabricated structures.
Exploration is also intended to have a purpose beyond travelling between races. The wider open world contains collectibles and driving challenges designed to reward players for leaving the main routes and exploring the French Riviera.
The structure revolves around two very different sides of car culture. During the day, players compete in the Riviera 1000, or R1K, an elite professional racing championship with a century of fictional history. At night, the focus shifts towards the Midnight Collective, an underground street-racing culture where style, reputation and increasingly dangerous activities become as important as finishing first.
Midnight Collective events are not simply conventional races placed on public roads. Gameplay shown by Maverick indicates that players can score through actions requested by spectators, including drifting and other challenges, adding a performance and style component to the competition. The world also includes pursuits, getaway missions and dynamic activities designed to turn driving encounters into part of the wider experience.
Those systems feed into what Maverick describes as a social action-driving sandbox. CLUTCH will include both single-player and multiplayer, while Steam currently lists cross-platform multiplayer support. Maverick has also confirmed an online co-op option after the campaign prologue, allowing two players to control Theo and Cass during compatible sections of the game.
Xbox players get another confirmed feature: Xbox Play Anywhere. Buying the Xbox version through Microsoft’s ecosystem is intended to provide access on both Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC, with cross-save and cross-play support also confirmed by Maverick Games founder Mike Brown.
CLUTCH puts a full cinematic story at the centre
Unlike many open-world racing games where narrative mainly connects events, Maverick is placing the story directly at the centre of CLUTCH.
Players primarily follow Theo Martial, portrayed by Tosin Cole, and his sister Cass Martial, played by Little Simz. The siblings emerge from a troubled childhood before being adopted by former R1K star Ludo Martial and eventually finding themselves competing within the same professional racing world that shaped their adoptive father.
A major accident changes the direction of the R1K and leads championship custodian George McBride to introduce controversial new technology intended to make the sport safer. The fallout pushes Theo towards the Midnight Collective and ultimately into a wider conspiracy involving professional motorsport, underground racing and characters operating far outside the legal racing world.
The story was written by Jamie Brittain, co-creator of Skins, and Maverick has assembled a substantial acting cast. Alongside Cole and Little Simz, Gregory Montel plays Ludo Martial, Peter Serafinowicz portrays R1K figurehead George McBride and Jane Perry appears as fixer Emery Whitman. Kieron Moore is also among the principal cast.
CLUTCH also allows players to leave their cars in certain areas rather than treating vehicles as the only way of interacting with the world. Gameplay has shown walkable locations, dealerships, garages and story spaces, while Theo’s home operates as a base for storing, selecting, upgrading and customising cars. These sequences appear designed to reinforce Maverick’s emphasis on ownership rather than turning the game into a conventional on-foot action title.
Cars, deep customisation and a bespoke physics engine
Vehicle ownership is one of the central pillars of CLUTCH. Maverick is promising significantly more customisation than simply swapping wheels and changing paint, with modifications extending to both the exterior and interior.
Material shown so far includes aftermarket components, seats, steering wheels, dashboard decorations and smaller lifestyle details intended to make individual cars feel personally owned. Players will also encounter traditional dealerships and less conventional underground sellers, and can physically move around their garage before choosing which car to drive.
The vehicle lineup already spans a wide range of eras and categories. Cars seen so far include the BMW M3 GTR E46, BMW 850 CSi, Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, Mazda RX-7, Porsche Carrera GT, Porsche 911 Turbo 930, Lamborghini Diablo SV, Aston Martin Valhalla, Ford Mustang Dark Horse, Lotus Emira, Subaru Impreza WRX STI and Renault 5 Turbo, among many others.
More than a dozen manufacturers have already appeared in footage, including Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ford, Jeep, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Lotus, Mazda, Nissan, Porsche, Renault and Subaru. Some cars seen in trailers may ultimately be traffic vehicles rather than player-owned models, however, so the complete launch car list remains unconfirmed.
For sim racing players, the handling model may be more interesting than the size of the car list. CLUTCH uses Unreal Engine 5 for the wider game but does not rely on Unreal’s standard vehicle physics. Maverick has instead created its own vehicle simulation, including bespoke tyre, suspension and handling systems.
Lead Vehicle Handling Designer Chris Phillips has previously described the target as simcade rather than hardcore simulation. Cars are built using real-world information, with systems modelling effects including weight transfer, tyre load sensitivity and slip angle.
Mike Brown provided additional context during Gamescom, describing CLUTCH as having a realistic driving model designed to make cars feel weighty. Maverick wants drivers to be able to push beyond the car’s limits and make mistakes, rather than providing an extremely forgiving arcade handling system where every input produces a predictable result.
The intention is not to turn CLUTCH into a pure simulator, but to place believable vehicle behaviour underneath an accessible open-world action-driving experience. Maverick also wants individual cars to retain distinct personalities instead of converging towards one universal handling model. A classic muscle car, lightweight sports car and track-focused Porsche should therefore require different techniques.
Drifting is similarly intended to require throttle modulation rather than simply holding full power once a slide begins, reinforcing the studio’s broader goal of making successful car control something the player has to learn.
Steering wheel and Force Feedback support have not yet been fully detailed publicly. Given Maverick’s handling ambitions, this remains one of the most important areas to watch from a sim racing perspective, but the studio has not yet published a final compatibility list or detailed which wheelbases will be supported at launch.
ClutchTech, Gamescom and the road to Spring 2027
One of CLUTCH’s more unusual systems is ClutchTech, a collection of experimental vehicle gadgets used primarily during its action-oriented missions.
The best-known example is the Harpoon, which can attach to vehicles, helicopters, trailers and parts of the environment. Importantly, Maverick says these interactions are physics-based rather than being completely scripted sequences. Gameplay has shown players manually aiming the device and potentially succeeding or failing depending on how it is used.
The Harpoon is only one component of a wider ClutchTech system, with gameplay presentations indicating six gadgets are planned. Maverick has not revealed all six yet. The concept is intended to provide tools for pursuits and getaway missions without replacing traditional racing, and additional ClutchTech systems are expected to be shown as development progresses.
CLUTCH is currently playable publicly at Gamescom 2026 from August 26 to 30 in Cologne’s Outdoor Area P8. The hands-on preview represents one of the first opportunities for players outside Maverick Games to experience the open world and handling model directly.
The Gamescom appearance follows a major commercial development for the project. On August 24, Focus Entertainment Publishing signed an agreement with Maverick Games to publish CLUTCH, marking Focus’ first move into the open-world racing genre.
Focus and Maverick continue to target a Spring 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Steam lists single-player, multiplayer and cross-platform multiplayer, while the game will also be available through the Xbox ecosystem and Epic Games Store.
An exact release date, PC system requirements, editions, pricing, preorder details and the complete post-launch content plan remain unannounced. Detailed steering wheel and Force Feedback compatibility also remains outstanding.
With its custom vehicle physics, extensive personalisation, professional and underground racing structure and unusually strong emphasis on narrative, CLUTCH is aiming for a position between traditional arcade open-world racers and more demanding driving games. The latest Gamescom presentation reinforces that direction, particularly through Maverick’s focus on a detailed Monaco road network and a handling model designed to give cars believable weight without turning the game into a hardcore simulator.
This website uses affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
