Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go to plan. The game was originally set to be released alongside the PS4 in November but was soon delayed until 2014 because developer Evolution Studios needed more time “in order to deliver on their vision”. And when the game was eventually released in October, Driveclub suffered from huge online issues at launch. For several weeks players were unable to login to online multiplayer properly, which developer Evolution Studios blamed on their servers.
These server troubles were so bad that Driveclub players had to wait weeks for fixes, including multiple patches and at one point, the game’s multiplayer operated on a ‘one player in, one player out’ waiting list. Evolution even released a premium DLC pack as an apology to those affected by the issues. And on top of this, the PS Plus edition of the game was delayed even further, with PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan even saying that there was no guarantee that it would ever see the light of day.
Some 19 months after initially intended and the PS Plus edition of Driveclub will finally be released. In a post on the PlayStation Blog from Shuhei Yoshida, the President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios revealed that the PlayStation Plus version of the game will be made available to PS Plus subscribers tomorrow, June 25, 2015. Only the offline mode will be available, though, but they will be “steadily bring more and more players online while continuously ensuring that all game systems are running smoothly”.
The fact that online gameplay – which provides Driveclub with core features like clubs and challenges – isn’t being made available instantly will be disappointing for some players to hear. But Yoshida recognizes this, saying that he hopes “you can understand that we are taking extra precautions to protect your experience when you do get online”. According to statistics from last year, half of PS4 owners are PS Subscribers and with over 20 million PS4 units having been sold since launch, it’s no wonder why Sony and Evolution are preparing for such a huge influx of new Driveclub players.
Source: PlayStation Blog
