DriveClub PS4 PlayStation 4

DriveClub’s disastrous launch is still ongoing. Despite the game showing signs of improvement a week or so ago, we were a bit optimistic expecting the PlayStation 4 exclusive racer’s free PlayStation Plus trial to release this month. Indeed, the retail version appears to have hit a brick wall of late – even Evolution Studios seems sick of writing samey update messages on Facebook – and it’s clear that, three weeks on, there’s going to be no quick fix for the title’s self-destructive tailspin.

And all of that means that the complimentary copy that you were due as part of your premium subscription has been put “on hold”. The company confirmed as much in a reply to understandably agitated fans: “The PS Plus Edition is on hold while [...] work progresses, and we want to get it back on track as quickly as possible, because we want everyone to enjoy the game that we’ve poured our hearts into throughout development.”

After being accused of not properly testing its netcode, the company continued that the issues that it’s experiencing were entirely unforeseen. “[The problems] were never encountered during the past year, in any of the many rounds of testing prior to launch,” a spokesperson said. “The servers were actually live for over a week before 7th October for reviewers, and none of these issues were discovered during that time either.”

We’re not on the inside, so it would perhaps be unfair of us to assume that we know what’s going on, but if we had to speculate, we’d guess that the developer’s having to re-write a huge chunk of its code. The ironic thing is that we chuckled when the Runcorn-based outfit claimed that the title was originally delayed due to its menus, and yet, even with an extra year to work on them, that’s ultimately what appears to have sent the title careening into a stone wall. Whoops.

[source facebook.com, via joystiq.com]