DriveClub disappointed at launch. Evolution Studios' next-gen racer may have made a late charge for podium position – and we actually think that the game's awesome as it stands now – but it's hard to ignore those first few months of inconsistent online functionality. To its credit, though, Sony has stressed that it was distraught at the state of the release, and will ensure that the same mistakes are never repeated again.
"In the context of DriveClub, which as you say did not work correctly at launch, I've got to tell you that everybody at Sony and in the development community was absolutely distraught [at the launch]," SCEE boss Jim Ryan told Metro as part of a hard hitting interview. "I don't think that 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."
He continued: "Now, should the game have worked at launch? Of course. Should people pay £50 for something and expect it to work? Of course. We've learnt an awful lot from the DriveClub experience, and those mistakes, once made, should not be repeated."
Ryan concluded that these lessons will be "applied internally in the context of every first-party title that we publish going forward", so hopefully we'll never experience anything like it again. Have you forgiven the format holder for this fiasco yet, or are you still wary of the state of boxed games in general? Tread lightly in the comments section below.
[source metro.co.uk]
Comments 17
It didn't affect me at all, as I picked up the game in the Xmas sale after all the cufuffle had disappeared, but yeah, if I was a launch customer I'd have been devastated. Hasn't it gone on to sell a million copies now, or something around there?
Doesn't he mean that it's an expression that isn't used lightly?
@SteveButler2210 my understanding was it's lightly used by many, but in this case was true? Just a thought.
@chazaroonie @SteveButler2210 Yeah, I think he means, people say '24/7' but don't mean it literally — whereas in this instance, they actually were working on it around the clock.
I'm an unlucky PS4 owner who underwent almost all major problems since the launch and therefore I don't like my PS4 as much as I like my other consoles. I've had huge problems with BF, after that with 2.0 (problems that still aren't fixed), I had lots of problems with outages and I bought DriveClub and Unity at day one. Although I can't blame Sony for everything, that's exactly what I'm doing now because of their terrible communication and worthless help desk; not delivering on your promises is one thing, constantly lying about it is unforgivable.
So I'm at a point now where every time I "have" to use my PS4, I take a deep breath, close my eyes and hope the experience won't be plagued with bugs and errors for once.
I can't wait till the new firmware arrives so Sony and I can start with a clean slate.
@get2sammyb @chazaroonie ah yeah actually when I switch the emphasis on it around in my head that makes more sense. I misread that as him implying that he himself was using the expression lightly, my bad!
Picked up on sale too, rubbish. Pass. Give me something more arcade please. Please deliver me road rash.
@Boerewors You cannot blame Sony for game's like BF4 & Unity for being a mess, Driveclub maybe as that was a first-party game.
These sorts of things don't happen a lot when it comes to Sony's first-party game's, for me there is nothing to forgive as the campaign was in full working order. Multiplayer side I always give time by playing the campaign first, as things don't always go to plan with an online game other game's problems tell you this.
@banacheck
Like I said: I shouldn't blame Sony, but I do. I've started this generation with high hopes for the PS4, but the platform was so far home of the failures for me personally. Whereas my One and Wii U only brought fun where I didn't expect anything.
Sony created one hell of a buzz and it's still selling them consoles, but the actual experience doesn't live up to the expectations for me.
And surely, theyre not to blame for BF and Unity, but when I called for assistance because ALL my games are crashing, I had to hear it was just BF saves that were corrupted and Unity that was broken. I've whiped all my saves and set everything back to factory settings twice, but since 2.0 I hardly play any game for longer than 15 minutes without getting an error. And the PS helpdesk just won't help me and actually told me a while back: "sir, 18 million people can't be wrong" ... That's when I realized Sony isn't in this to keep current customers happy and give everyone the best experience they can offer, they're in it to make as much money as they can as fast as they can and ef the future! Only when everything starts falling apart, like what happened with DriveClub, they're willing to take some action, after first denying for weeks anything is wrong.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
Just because it wasn't arcadey enough for you, doesn't mean it's rubbish.
I'd say it's pretty damn good at what it does.
Track and point to point races, good handling but without the full on sim side of setups and tweaking. Stunning looks, loads of content and a decent multiplayer too.
I'm having a lot of fun with it.
So.. Sony took peoples 50 quid and now they are saying "we learn a lot from that and wont repeat the ame mistake" ?
Cool story 10/10
@DeWiz tried it online, joined 4 races, 3 didn't connect, I have 50mbps connection. This was a month or two ago.
Got it around launch, and the game was in a mess, and certainly wasn't worth £50. But the updates and free DLC evolution have offered are really good, the online still isn't perfect as I played it at the weekend and it wouldn't connect very well.
This was a total fail on Sony's part I am still not sure if it was evolution or Sony's server issues that were the core problem. I pre-ordered DriveClub before I even ordered the PS4!! When it did come out a year later it still have many issues.Even though the game works great today they still have fears that the FREE version with millions of new players will break the game once again! NO its still not over nothing is forgiven we have no free Plus version. I have owned the game Day one but what about the PLAYERS who have not received it... SAD!!
Driveclubs actually pretty good. Bit too slippy slidey, but after a few races over the last weeks its good. One of the problems now is its difficulty is inconsistent, one race or time trial is solid, the next is a cakewalk. Also why penalise you for cutting a corner - its unrealistic like the lead steward has a big red button which stuns your car for a few seconds. But if you like racing you will enjoy the game. The levelling systems pretty lenient also and you unlock stuff after most races.
Yea same whiny, apologetic b.s. Sony has said before. I got an apology for ya Sony......
I am sorry for never buying a product from Evolution Studios in the future.
Oh wait......so not sorry. Nevermind.
The article picture is hilarious.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...