Back in 2023, we heard that a bunch of Forza Horizon devs were splitting off and making their own studio in Maverick Games, before Amazon announced the following year that it would publish the title at some stage. Well, the game seems to still be in production - but Amazon's gaming department will no longer fund the title.
As shared by The Game Business, the mega-corporation has 'abandoned' the title, with the team instead "focusing on projects that leverage Amazon’s unique strengths and scale". In turn, Maverick Games is "in active dialogue with partners who share our long-term ambition for the IP and look forward to sharing more later this year."
Both parties have shared statements with the outlet; we'll highlight the main bits down below:
Amazon: "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.
Maverick Games: "We’re grateful to Amazon Games for their partnership and collaboration. Development of our debut title continues to progress as strongly as planned. We’re in active dialogue with partners who share our long-term ambition for the IP and look forward to sharing more later this year."
This news follows substantial scaling back from Amazon in terms of its commitment to game development. Various other projects have been slimmed down or cancelled in recent months, and we hope that Maverick Games can find a more suitable publisher swiftly.
Of course, in terms of the Forza franchise itself, Microsoft is full-steam ahead with Forza Horizon 6 right now, as the Playground Games team prepares to take the Horizon Festival to open-world Japan this May.