Sony have confirmed reports of PS4 launch title DriveClub being delayed until “early 2014”. They’ve described this as a “difficult decision” and it’s definitely one which will be better for the game, allowing Evolution to deliver the game they wanted.
SCE Worldwide Studios and the team at Evolution Studios have made the difficult decision to delay the release of DRIVECLUB and DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition until early 2014. DRIVECLUB will be a truly innovative, socially connected racing game, but the team requires more time in order to deliver on their vision — and I’m fully confident the game will surpass your expectations.
As well as the launch line-up, this directly affects the PlayStation Plus bonuses offered in the first month, of which a scaled-back version of DriveClub was one. Now, while you’ll still get that when the game releases next year if you’re a PS+ subscriber, Contrast from Corruption Games will be available as part of the Instant Game Collection at launch instead.
They’ve also detailed some future PlayStation Plus content, including an “open weekend” trial for Killzone Shadow Fall, allowing everyone to experience the multiplayer component. While the launch line-up is now missing one of its key exclusive titles, 2014 is looking like a great year already.
It’s definitely better to have a great game next year than a mediocre game at launch.
Source: PlayStation Community Forums
wirralsman
Sony have taken a bit of a knock from the past couple of weeks, delays to 2 launch games, Microsoft are beginning to throw their weight into their launch with their convenient U-turns, I think it’s time that Sony casually mentions Naughty Dog’s upcoming PS4 project to get things back on track.
Not much is changed though, PS4 is still going to sell out at launch (As will Xbox), and there will be high demand going in to Xmas. The added bonus now is that Drive Club and Watch Dogs launch with a bigger install base, and Drive Club isn’t competing directly with GT6 on PS3.
And at least there isn’t as much of a worry of having a quiet period for 12 months after launch where sales disappear and theres no new games around to buy.
Starman
They really shouldn’t have promoted it so much if there was doubt that it would be ready for launch. Major cockup.
bunimomike
Agreed, fella. If it’s a launch game you can’t help but think that they had the resources spare to complete it in time, let alone any help Sony could’ve brought to the table in case things were getting really tight.
double-o-dave
It’s probably due to the amount of people bitching about the fact it wasn’t 60fps.
Dar-Kaus
Didn’t Evolution say at the PS4 reveal that they had been waiting for years for the right hardware to come along for this game? a bit ironic isn’t it.
cam the man
At least we Plus’ers have still got Resogun, which is looking like it’s going to be brilliant.
boeboe
Another perspective is that we’ve all been waiting 8 months from February’s reveal so far with no PS4 whatsoever. So 2-3 months with one shouldn’t be too painful eh?
double-o-dave
I get the feeling that both Sony & Microsoft really aren’t ready to release these consoles til 2014, but at the same time can’t afford to miss out on the Xmas sales or risk an earlier release from the opposition.
double-o-dave
Luckily with Sony, this seems to be down to game development & not the console itself. With Microsoft, it seems the other way round, I’d be a bit wary of ordering a day 1 console.
colmshan1990
Much more disappointing to me than the rather boring looking Watch Dogs.
I hope this isn’t purely because it’s not 60fps, as only really a vocal minority care about that.
Looks like I’ll need a different racer at launch to go with FIFA, Killzone and a whole lot of PSN goodies. I’m not really interested in Need for Speed though.
SLUMMO316
The thing I find odd about this is it took a rumour online for them to admit it’s not going to be ready for launch. When would they have announced it if the rumour hadn’t come about
double-o-dave
To be fare, in most cases like this there’s always a rumour, otherwise ‘rumours’ wouldn’t exist. It only takes 1 person to say “I’m not sure this is gonna be done in time” & the rumours start before their worst thoughts are confirmed.
BAZ1307
Not gonna touch that Contrast game with a barge pole at launch, it’s too dull and grey and I do not want one of my first PS4 experiences to be dull and grey.
I’m really disappointed by this as I was always planning on getting just Watch Dogs at launch and having Driveclub to play for free. Now the only games I’m interested in at launch are Battlefield 4 and Need for Speed Rivals, which I can get on my PS3 anyway. I thought about Killzone, but I haven’t kept up with the series since 2 and am worried I might not understand the story. :(
For some reason, I’m considering getting an Xbox One to keep until the new year, so I get to try Forza, Dead Rising and Ryse. Then I would simply sell the Xbox and buy a PS4 when Watch Dogs and/or Driveclub arrives.
Arrrrgh, I hate making decisions. :'(
Eldave0
Depends if money is no object I guess. You probably won’t get a decent return on your Xbox after Christmas and I expect the value of Ryse in particular to drop very quickly.
Killzone Shadow Fall is set a long time after the original trilogy so I wouldn’t worry about the storyline.
If you would prefer a PS4, personally I would get that right away and not worry about the Xbox. It would be crazy to sell your X1 before playing Titanfall!
— this coming from a man who much prefers the Xbox One :)
The Von Braun
Fingers crossed then that as well as the code being optimised (no jaggies, rock solid frame rate, 30 FPS or above, does’nt have to be 60 FPS, just as long as it’s stable, no screen tear etc) game will have decided just what it really wants to be:Arcade Racer or Sim-type affair, as a lot of folks seem to be saying demo they played did’nt seem to know what it was trying to achive.
If the project is unfocused, then hopefully the extra development time will prevent it ‘falling between 2 stools’ as it were.
As for Xbox One having the ‘stronger’ line up..hmmnn.
Forza 5 and Dead Rising 3 are the ‘dead certs’ but Killer Instinct is very much an unknown in terms of quality, espically given the developer this time around, Ryse…so we’re saying ‘yes to QTE’s being Next Gen gaming now, because these are 900P QTE’s?’ and Crimson Dragon (something i love the look of) well..remind me just how the stunning Panzer Dragoon series sold on Saturn or indeed helped shift Saturn’s? ditto for Orta on Xbox…..