Update:
After receiving multiple questions about the DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition today, developer Evolution Studios responded on Twitter by saying it’s still on hold and still being worked on:
It’s still on hold while the servers are being developed to make the launch possible. Dev work is ongoing, we’ll keep you updated.
and:
It’s still on hold while server development continues.
In other news, Evolution confirmed that replays are coming in the next game update.
Original Story:
Interviewed by Metro last week, PlayStation Europe President Jim Ryan threw some doubt on whether the DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition is still happening, despite Evolution Studios saying a couple weeks ago that it’s on the roadmap.
When outright asked if there would still be a free PlayStation Plus version of DriveClub, Ryan said, “That’s still being looked at.” Further asked if he could guarantee it will happen, Ryan replied, “I can’t say anything at this stage.”
We’ve reached out to Sony for further clarification on his comment, so stay tuned for any news as we hear it.
Also in the interview, Ryan touched upon the issues with DriveClub at launch, revealing that everyone at Sony’s Europe HQ in London was distraught over the whole ordeal:
[…] But to your statement that nobody cared, I shouldn’t speak at all for other publisher or platform holders, but just in the context of Driveclub, which as you say did not work correctly at launch, I gotta tell you that everybody in this building and in the development community was absolutely distraught that that was the case.
I don’t think anybody should labour under the opinion that there was any feeling of insouciance or anybody being relaxed about that being the case. People were working 24/7, and that’s an expression that’s lightly used but people were working 24/7 trying to fix this.
Now, should the game have worked at launch? Of course. Should people pay £50 for something and expect it to work? Of course.
Offering up a potential reason for the troubles at launch, Ryan says, “I think the massively enhanced online ambitions a lot of developers and publishers have identified as one of the opportunists of next gen, appear to have been way more technically challenging than anyone realized.”
Because of the stress placed on servers, he says it’s hard to due proper QA, but for the future, Ryan hopes that they learn from their mistakes and don’t repeat them again.
Finishing up his thoughts on DriveClub, Ryan said, “Obviously the lessons that we learnt in the context of DriveClub were many and painful, and will be applied internally in the context of every first party title that we publish going forward.”
[Source: Metro]
