After a few days of teases, Maverick Games has finally unveiled its open-world narrative-based driving game, titled Clutch. The game was showcased through a livestream that had been kicked off last week. Unfortunately, however, at the time of publishing, the company has yet to release a proper trailer for Clutch, and a video of the livestream is no longer available to watch.
When the livestream’s countdown hit 0, we were greeted by the studio celebrating the fact that they finally get to show off Clutch, which has seemingly been in development for three and a half years. The title has been described as being about “a love of driving, a connection between car and driver, and the raw thrill of speed.”
Unlike most racing games out there, Clutch will focus quite heavily on its story. Its plot revolves around a pair of siblings who also happen to be racing prodigies. The two are competing in the R1K racing series, which has been described as a “prestigious and historic” series of races that has also served as the proving ground for the best drivers in the world for more than a century.
Aside from the R1K itself, there is also a group known as the Midnight Collective – a group of enthusiasts who don’t really care about the money or fame offered by the R1K, and only really care about the act of driving and racing.
As for the plot, not too many details were revealed aside from the fact that the protagonist will get into some kind of trouble in the early parts of Clutch, leading them to look up the “services” of a “fixer”. This leads to the protagonist diving headfirst into the underworld.
Clutch has been developed using a custom version of Unreal Engine 5, which the studio claims has allowed them to achieve “a level of detail and accuracy never before seen in in-game car models.” This means that “every exterior curve, every fleck of paint, every interior stitch, every groove of tire wear” has been “recreated perfectly”. This level of detail isn’t just exclusive to modern vehicles, however. Older cars will also have minor details added to them, like signs of wear and tear, and signs that the cars have actually been driven and loved by their previous owners.
The studio has also noted that Clutch sets a “new benchmark for car customization”. These statements are quite bold, especially considering the level of visual fidelity that has been achieved in other driving games that offer similar features, like this year’s Forza Horizon 6.
While we don’t get too many details about the gameplay, a few things could be gleaned from the video, including the fact that players will likely also partake in plenty of illegal activities, such as bank robberies and high-speed police chases. Some parts of the video also indicate that players will get access to unique tools, like grappling hooks, that could potentially lead to Fast and Furious-styled shenanigans.
More details about Clutch are slated to be revealed during Summer Game Fest 2026, which will take place on June 5th at 2 PM PST. In the meantime, the studio has said that it is aiming for a Spring 2027 launch for Clutch across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
