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.
This decision also affects PlayStation Plus members’ Instant Game Collection for launch. To be clear, DRIVECLUB PlayStation Plus Edition will still be part of the Instant Game Collection when it is released. For the PS4 launch, in addition to Resogun, I’m pleased to announce that Contrast, the highly anticipated game from Compulsion Games will also be available to PlayStation Plus members for free as part of Instant Game Collection. If you’re not aware of Contrast, it will whisk you away to a surreal vaudevillian, film-noir inspired reality full of performance, intrigue, shadow-play and drama. Please check out the trailer below. I’m sure you’ll agree that it is unlike anything you will have played before.
We’re also offering members access to an exclusive “Open Weekend” trial of Killzone Shadow Fall multiplayer on December 28-29.
We understand that the delay is disappointing news, but can assure you that the reason we have made this decision is to ensure that when DRIVECLUB launches, it will realize the next-gen racing vision. And PlayStation 4 gamers will have no shortage of titles to play this year. At launch alone, we have Killzone Shadow Fall, Knack, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, FIFA 14, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Battlefield 4 to name but a few, as well as the incredible list of indie games coming to PS4. A broad portfolio of games will be available on PS4 before the end of the year, and with games such as inFAMOUS Second Son, The Order 1886, Destiny, Watch Dogs and now DRIVECLUB coming next year, the strength of the software line-up on PS4 is unprecedented.
DRIVECLUB is a really ambitious racing title and the game is looking stunning. The extra time we’re giving the team means the visuals and overall experience are only going to get better. We can assure you that it will be worth the wait.
Is this payback for all the bull Sony threw to MS?
Quality vs. quantity?! Production budget = quality? Come on. You’re just trolling now.
I’m glad to hear that a second rate product won’t be rushed to market. If the quality of the product is better, this is great news. It would have been nice if the game was replaced with another larger retail quality game, but Contrast looks like a fantastic indie title.
Dark times on Sony’s path…
…even darker in Brazil. PS4’s price is 10 times higher than the american one. Still no response on why.
first my watchdogs bundle and now this! I am only left with madden 25 now as my only interest because I refuse to play first person shooters on consoles! I have ZERO interest in indy games and now have to try and justify spending almost $500 to play madden 25.
Sony appear to be the most active propaganda of their rivals, you know what? it worked! i dont buying a ps4 anymore soon
Now THAT is how you deliver news of a game delay! I’m disappointed in the delay so close to console launch, but Sony really shows that they understand our disappointment by providing the entire game of Contrast as a free download (for Plus members).
Thank you Sony for showing that my trust in choosing your company and system for purchase was the right one.
I’m totally unimpacted here. GT5 is still fun and GT6 is right around the corner. Since I don’t play FPS, PS4 launch titles are just blah blah blah. They failed to have a GT title for PS3 when it launched too and I waited until GT5 was out before I bought one. I watched the launch videos and the impression I got of Drive Club was they wanted the cars to look real and be customizable. Not so much on realism in physics.
I’ll eventually get a PS4, but it will be when GT7 comes out or games like Drive Club come out and show they really have something to offer.
If Sony really wants the PS4 to be a success, they are going to have to work on integration not just with the Vita but with smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics and laptops/desktops. A flawless one-stop shop for managing your personal communications and media is what the fight is now on for. 802.11ac to send video wirelessly in very high def is also going to have to be part of the puzzle.
Here’s hoping people at Sony are reading these and they listen. I want Kaz to succeed, but if he wants Sony to get back to what it was then Sony will have to regain the quality it had under Morita-san.
PS4K Fail.
1st Watch Dogs and now this… what’s next!? -_-
hmm :(
Watch Dogs and DriveClub … two of the titles i wanted to get at launch…
Resogun and Contrast both look great, thank you Shuhei san.
Might pre-order Knack now…
This is bad News.
Any idea how this is now handled by your resellers concerning PS4+DC-Bundles? But I guess this depends on the reseller. I will have to wait for an email from Amazon on this issue….
How about giving us Knack instead?
I am ok with this ty sony for the update :).
While I am disappointing with the delay, I am really looking forward to Contrast. I’m not that much of a racing fan anyway, so this kind of works better for me anyway.
Shu! How can I possibly be upset when you guys have been on so top notch on the PS4 from the creation until now. Take the time you guys need.
I always try to justify what I read, and the bottom line if a selected title is not ready it’s not ready. The hard part is watching conferences, media shows promoting their titles as DayOne but to back out in a month or so before launching of a brand new system.
Again while it may be a letdown. Us PSplus members have to realize this PSN is bar none the best on any market. So with reading the official announcement of DriveClub being held they are notifying us they will honor our value..
My ONLY main concern about my PS4 is PSN and Party Chat. I need to know the Max # of Friends I can have in a lobby while we all do the play the same title or decide to do different things but still be able to carry live audio conversations. Once achieved PSN/PS+ benefits outshines anything that XBL has to offer. (I just need PSN FACTS)
I wasn’t that interested in DriveClub anyway (not really into racing), but I’m disappointed to see yet another delay. Contrast does look interesting, but I was under the impression that it’s a PSN title. Nothing against PSN titles, but since DriveClub is a retail game, it would have been nice to swap in another retail game instead of a PSN game.
well it better run at 60fps smoothly and DAMAGE
No offense to the developers who made Contrast, but that game does not look next gen, nor does it seem remotely interesting. I am very disappointed that the two games I was halfway excited for are delayed. Other then Killzone, every game available at Launch is available on my PS3… Why am I buying a PS4?
I do however appreciate the honesty and quick update to consumers about what is going on with the delay.
Contrast!!! :) I’m actually happy driveclub has been delayed because now we get contrast! An upgrade in my opinion
To be honest I’m not all that interested in driving games, of course being free I’ll try it; but I was already planning on buying Contrast (looks really interesting), so this actually is a net gain for me :-) .
its sad news but i understand. PS4 FTW:)
I rather a game get delayed then you release a half ass game that needs to be fixed… I hate companies that release the game and think well we can fix it with patches and updates…
27days left till the ps4 comes…OUT
Can’t wait… getting Killzone and Knack with it…
Epic fail.
Watchdogs, The crew. Driveclub. There is really NO REASON left to get a ps4 at LAUNCH!
XBOX ONE has forza 5, dead rising 3, ryse, plants vs zombies garden warfare, peggle 2, Zoo tycoon.. So MUCH! All AT LAUNCH and only on XBOX.
While it is upsetting that yet another launch title is falling into the never ending abyss that is a delay, I am really happy about Contrast. I was going to get Contrast anyway but being a Plus member now I don’t have to pay for it. While I am not really a racing game fan I was looking forward to giving Drive Club a go. Thank you for making it up to us it is greatly appreciated.
still 5 1st party day one gmes..
No surprise, however a bit more notice would have been nice, and a full retail ps4 game to replace the only full retail ps4 game we were getting for the IGC. I do want Contrast and I’m glad I’ll now get it free. My only complaint is that both games that were delayed (Watch_Dogs was the reason I was buying a ps4) were delayed with less than a month before launch. These companies seriously didn’t know they needed to delay the game until it’s time to package and ship them?
Aw, I know a lot of people were looking forward to “DriveClub” but if this delay will make the game a bit better than I agree it should be done.
I like the look of “Contrast” and it’s something I would’ve wanted to play anyway.
Looks like for all PlayStation racing enthusiasts out there, we’ll just have to stick with “Gran Turismo 6” this holiday as our primary racing game. ;)
This would have been better news if Contrast was coming to Vita too. Platformers on Vita are awesome!
Thanks for the update, and now I’m even more excited for the PS4 launch to see that we will get Contrast free while we wait for DriveClub. I can wait for that game anyway, but if people are upset about the delay, maybe they should just play Gran Turismo 6 on their PS3’s until DriveClub comes out. Seems to make sense to me.
I think Contrast looks really cool – it’s one of the initial batch of indie games that I’m more interested in.
I can’t believe PS4 is less than a month away.
this is very disappointing news. We lose a AAA game from PS+ and we get another Indie instead? As of now, there is zero on PS4’s PS+ launch line up that is even faintly attractive to me. Along with Watch Dogs getting delayed, this makes the launch line up pretty sparse since i hate CoD and sports games. I guess all I have is Killzone :(
Ah well no biggie, we got NFS Rivals, GT6 and FORZA 5 to tide us over. Im sure when Driveclub launches it will be great also.
@ xClayMeow well you can remote play thru ps4 haha
Sigh… Better to delay a game and release a better quality game. But…. Contrast looks good and all but I don’t think its an equal value replacement.
No disrespect to the developers working on Contrast but Driveclub was promoted as a large scale social game, contrast is.. well a contrast to the offering.
The final game will be a lot better as a result of the delay. Let’s be honest guys, we still hadn’t seen a single gameplay video showing more than 1 car on screen….the writing was on the wall.
I hope the final game runs at 60 FPS and has weather effects ^_^
Hey Shuhei I’m really disappointed because Driveclub PS+ Is what I was looking forward to at launch. I’m also REALLY dissapointed that you gave us Contrast because I’m not an indie guy. I would of rather had Knack or even a 3rd party game (NFS Rivals). I will still try resogun and contrast. Also I have a question. Will we still get Driveclub ps+ edition when it launches? Thanks. I still love you guys. Bye!
Watch Dogs was more upsetting as I didn’t have Drive Club on my list of games I want. But still, I hope this doesn’t become a trend and we only end up with Killzone and a bunch of Indie titles for launch games.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here but this is actually awesome news for me. As of now, my PS4 launch night purchases include Knack, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Assassin’s Creed 4, Battlefield 4 and Injustice. I planned on then buying Contrast, Resogun (since nothing has been mentioned of it being available in NA for free) and Tiny Brains. I have been stock piling on PSN cards so now I’ll have 2 freed up to get the KZ ssn pass and likely Divekick if it’s not retroactive cross-buy and since I didn’t have the funds to buy Driveclub with my launch games, I can now add it back to my pre-order list ^_^
So less than one month out and now you know it is not ready. Your exclusive lineup is looking very VERY slim and bad.
I understand why they did it, but this was such a bad decision, especially with The Crew being pushed back till 2014. They basically had an open window with no other racing game available around launch. They better give themselves at least a 2 month gap between them and The Crew or they games sales might suffer.
I did not even know about Contrast until after reading the announcement. Highly anticipated, yeah no. Watched the trailer and it seems boring (to me). Well, guess i am scalping my preorder now. The launch lineup wasn´t even that good to begin with but i was willing to deal with it. But now i have 1 game that (kinda) seems interesting to me (Killzone) but that is not worth a new console to me. Bad form Sony, IMHO.
Not looking good for next gen development so far. 2 huge delays so far.
And I was really looking forward to the PS+ edition of driveclub as well too :(
Xbox One Wins.
PS4K Fail.
Wow, the reason to get PS4 are dying by the day. I was so psyiced for this console now not so much. First watch Dogz is delayed till I would guess summer (they say spring but that means the day before summer starts) and now DriveClub gotta say things are not looking good, now if I get a PS4 just going to have Killzone and AC4(the reason for the watch dogz delay didn’t want franchises competing) Pretty sad to be honest looking forward to the Xbone a little more now since they have Ryse (good or bad not sure yet) Deadrising 3 which is the big one and crimson dragon.
Come on Sony you gotta do better then this, you can have the better console but there have to be some games to play on it on launch day, I had 4 days booked off for this and now dialled it back cause there’s no point now.
you sadden me greatly, Long time PS supporter.
OH NO!
LucasFla1 got Xboned!
No offence to Compulsion. I’m not plunking down $50 bucks for PS plus for film noir. You guys better come up with something better than that sack of crap if u want more people to join up. Go from trading paint at 140 mph to a magical vaudeville mystery are you serious. Your talking about two different gamers. I’ll emerse myself in GTA, I’ll emerse myself in Call of Duty. I’m not emersing myself or my money in a vaudeville 1920s film noir crap game. I’m a gamer not a paid critic. I’m not going separate subject matter and the artistry of the game. I need to be interested in the game first. Conduct a vote on what game we want.
Hey Outtastateheel,
Did you know that with your $50, you get ONE YEAR of Plus?
Did you also know that Drive Club will still be coming to Plus in Spring?
Did you know that with your $50 you will be getting Compulsion, Drive Club and 10 more months worth of content?
Maybe you can immerse yourself in some patience and understanding?
IT’D
BETTER
BE
WORTH
IT
In all honesty, releasing another (kinda of simulation) racing game alongside Gran Turismo 6 was never a good idea.
good! I want it when it’s ready