Former Forza Horizon Leads Start Rival Open-World Studios

Mike Brown and Gavin Raeburn have launched separate studios to develop large-scale open-world racing games. Brown founded Maverick Games after serving as creative director on Forza Horizon 5. Raeburn leads Lighthouse Games after stepping down as head of Playground Games.

Maverick has confirmed it is working on a large-scale open-world driving title and recently began an online countdown stream that features a 2003 FIAT Multipla. The countdown aligns with Sony’s State of Play next week, prompting expectations of a timed reveal; the studio has not announced a firm date for a full presentation.

Maverick has described its project as focused on expansive environments and driving systems. Beyond the stream and the studio’s stated focus, the company has released few technical or gameplay details.

Lighthouse Games is developing its own open-world racing project with support from Tencent. The studio’s team includes developers who previously worked at Playground Games and Codemasters. Lighthouse has described the project as aiming for fresh design and technical innovation within the open-world racing format.

On leaving Xbox, Raeburn explained his reasons: “I felt I’d gone as far as I could with Horizon. It was going to continue to be successful, but I wanted to do more, and I couldn’t really do that at Xbox. I couldn’t add what I wanted to Horizon. I couldn’t change it.” He has said Lighthouse intends to push the genre in new directions.

Lighthouse has stated it hopes to deliver a leap for the genre comparable to the change Forza Horizon introduced after DiRT 2. The studio has not provided release timing or platform details.

Other developers are also working on open-world racing titles. Ivory Tower, part of Ubisoft, is developing a new entry in The Crew series. Several teams staffed by former Playground Games employees are now producing projects in the same space.

For now, the clearest public signals are Maverick’s countdown stream and Lighthouse’s funding and staffing announcements. Both studios have released limited information on mechanics, platforms, or release windows, and further details are expected as each team prepares formal reveals.