Update: We know many of you were looking forward to playing the promised PS Plus Edition and we are truly sorry for the delay. Our first priority is to provide you with the best possible experience while playing DRIVECLUB. With the high volume of new players and additional server load the PS Plus Edition is anticipated to bring, we are currently not confident that we can guarantee the best online experience. Until we can ensure that everyone can enjoy the full social connected online experience, we will be postponing the release of the PS Plus Edition until further notice.
Hi everyone. As many of you are already aware, the DRIVECLUB team has made the decision to postpone the release of the PlayStation Plus Edition due to multiplayer connectivity issues following the game’s launch yesterday in North America and today in much of Europe. See here for a full statement on the situation from Evolution Studios.
The team is working around the clock to rectify these problems, and we apologize both for the delay in delivering the PS Plus Edition and for any difficulty that you may have connecting to the game’s multiplayer servers.
For live updates on the situation direct from the studio, visit the team’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.
First off thank you for posting an official statement on the blog, not all of us use Facebook. As much as I can appreciate the situation there were posts promising the PS+ the same day as the full game up to a day before launch with the game showing up in the PS+ monthly video that’s still on the PS4 last time I checked and then we were left in the dark for a significant amount of time after the decision was made not to release it. I can’t speak for everyone but I don’t need an apology, I want a release date. This is a case of bad communication between the studio and the social media devision, right now I’m really wishing Studio Liverpool was still around and Evolution was shuttered instead.
Can’t blame them, PSN servers have been and always will be crap even with a paid subscription. Stop hyping all this garbage, getting exclusive DLCs for weak games like Destiny and Watch Dogs, and focus your money on better and secured servers. I dropped Microsoft back in 2012 for you guys, at least help me out here and others too.
Everyone send a tip to consumerist.com
While on earth has it taken almost two days now to get so much as a comment from you guys? The lack of communication is the true issue here, and has been in the past.
Issues happen, that I can understand, but taking this long to get so much as a single response or comment is flat out unacceptable.
You guys NEED communicate more, and more promptly, in the future… This happens time and time again.
Too little, too late.
Next time try responding to your customers when the problems happen and not a day and a half after.
At least nothing is resolved, the PS + decline continues.
I’ll skip the bad words even if they express my disgust by now. First it should have been one of the first full PS Plus game for PS4.
After delaying it, they decided that new content will become a full game that anybody will have to pay… Making the PS Plus version an Exclusive Demo of the game and calling the paid version “Full Game” confirming my point (I’m still waiting announcment that any DLC will require the full game).
Yet they manage to release the full paid game with all the content, but not the PS Plus version with less content to make sure that well if you waited for that game, you are going to pay for it before trying it or risking being satisfied with the PSPlus version.
And yet, I do understand ****ups may happen in the industry. There are a lot of people who worked their *** off for this game, good people and they do not deserve hatred.
Yet I want you to know that the game I expected for a while is now in my past as it keeps leaving a bitter taste in my gamer sweet games.
Wow Sony, judging from the comments here, and the 800 on yesterdays blog store update, and every other videogame website I’ve been too recently, looks like you really pi$$ed a lot of customers off with your lack of / full day late addressing to this specific issue.
this is unacceptable, I’m expecting you have a good plan to compensate for this!
Further more there have been continuing issues with the PSN over the past few months, why haven’t these been addressed or even acknowledged?
The lack of communication and commitment is flat out disturbing. When things go wrong, the news is not only severely delayed, but it isn’t even reported on half of the time. A week ago friend requests/views etc… were COMPLETELY broken, and yet not a word was said by anyone. No status updates, no recognition of the issue, and while the issue was fixed, we weren’t even informed of that.
This is horrible customer service to say the very least.
We need to hear from you guys, and you need to at the very least now explain WHY these things have been happening, and what you are going to do about them in the future. Both issues in communication, and issues in your network as a whole.
If you remain silent forever, people will eventually just give up and leave.
Lastly, you guys rarely if ever comment/respond to bad news articles (what few you post). At least acknowledge us and our concerns/complaints. And for once explain what you all plan to do in the future to address all these network issues.
This update updated me with nothing.
I don’t really care about whether I get to play this game, but Sony’s business practices are awful and very anti-consumer here.
You’ve achieved a great deal of success thanks to a supportive customer base who had faith in you after an absolutely abysmal and overpriced PS3 launch. Years of support and good will, and you switch to mandatory paid online. Fair enough. There are costs involved with maintaining servers, and it’s no surprise that the PS+ offerings have gotten worse than they were right around the launch window of the PS4. Good job making it seem like a great value during the height of PS4/XBone competition.
But then you offer a AAA game for free to your loyal customers. You promise an awesome racing game at launch free for those with a PS+ subscription.
Then you take it away? Driveclub was a huge part of what sold the system, I’m sure, and you jerk it away once you’ve got their money? And now you can’t even get the servers up and running.
You offered a product in exchange for payment, even if the two weren’t exactly directly connected.That combined with these ridiculous server issues is costing you business. At the very least, it’s made me much less enthusiastic a PS customer.
Really tired of hearing you guys apologize for the PS+ version being out when some of us payed full retail and are lucky to have 50% (If lucky) functioning. This game was one of the reasons i wanted PS4 initially…Had to wait a year for the game,fine…It finally releases and I cant play it the way its meant to, unacceptable. This has been a issue with several heavy online games recently and you guys continue to push digital day 1 etc. Yet you cant do it without consumers having buyers remorse.
Lol everyone was only going to play the PS+ edition of this game and they delay it. wtf
Of course, why is anyone surprised? We should have known your customer service would go downhill after PS+ was no longer optional.
There are less than 300 ratings in the PSN store, there is no way the servers are overloaded, it is just that the game is broken, almost a year after the delay right before PS4 launch, it is still broken.
The damage control is pitiful. How can this happen after almost an entire year delay? People have a right to be upset. When you made it so that the PS4 would be an incomplete console without PS+ you offered up a version of DriveClub that helped take away the sting of being told “hey we’re going to copy that other scumbag company, and make you pay to play!” For sure PS+ is a better value, but you took away the option, and then you let this happen.
Thx for the update. We look forward to playing the game.
Still very odd to me. The free version which is a snipped of the game dosnt work. But the full version works just fine. I get that there are some programming differences but its just a cut down game seems a little odd to be..why not let us play it offline then patch it.
My other big issues it..can we please stop calling it free PS+ Game. It really isnt, its a longer demo and thats all it is.
Konami didnt call PT a free Silent Hill sequel it was a playable trailer. And in all reality thats what this is. A playable trailer for the full game.
Its a demo and nothing more…not a free plus game
You guys really need to communicate better. A day after it was supposed to come out is pretty crazy. What’s worse is the amount of psn issues we’ve had ever since that free weekend that has happened. Trying to play with friends or sending messages has been a nightmare. At least tell us you’re going to do something about it.
I do think this update was delayed way to long but I’ve already made my feelings on this matter clear on the store update page so I won’t be obnoxious and repeat myself here.
I just want to play some damn single player. We’ve waited almost an entire year for this game since it was delayed and we still don’t have it.
I pay for PS+ and so far we’ve got nothing but crappy indie games, save for a couple games I can stand playing for more than a few minutes. Of course now that we have to pay to play online you don’t care to give us great games since you’ve already got us hooked.
Well this just feels distasteful. Please, feel free to answer any of the following questions.
Why couldn’t someone say something yesterday to the many pages full of comments? Or better, yet, have said so in the post itself instead of ignoring it?
So, because of server issues, only people that bought the game can play offline? I could understand (And be totally fine with) them locking online to the full version only for a bit, but what kind of a shady business move is this? How do you expect us to believe that offline only works for one group of people because the servers can’t handle the stress? At the very least, PS+ members should be able to play through the portion of the solo content that they were promised over a year ago.
And are the sales really that bad?
Been playing the offline portion of the game and I been enjoying it allot. They got the server up for a short time. Was able to create a Club :)
And for those whining about the game stop while your ahead. You need to grow up. Things happen that weren’t expected. Get over your butt hurt remarks and play a different game in the mean time. Those that preordered the game should be enjoying the offline part of the game as I am. And those stating why they didn’t notify us sooner should be following @DRIVECLUB on Twitter and Facebook if your real fan’s of the game because they notified us as it was happening.
God speed IT men and woman. Your the Super heros to us now :) Take your time and get it right. Thank you for reading :D
Not sure why it took you guys (PS Blog Team) to put up an update, the DriveClub facebook had updates yesterday. Still hours too late imo, but at least it was the same day.
That said some people are hardcore overreacting, but w/e. It sucks yes, the delay is nonsense, but it isn’t the worst thing ever like some act like.
Bleh, errors… on a tablet.
People whining about offline, that would require devtime to remove the automatic online checkins, time better used on fixing the servers.
Strange moves Sony… 1 day for some simple lines, like that?
When is it coming out?
PS4 LAunch game, 1 week before console is release it gets delayed until what March, then gets delayed again until October 7th in the US, free PS+ version is supposed to be release, nothing happens, they blame it on the store update, which updated fine for me as i picked up Dust, now we are told it is because the games servers suck balls and Sony nor Evolution knew it was going to happen, if i wasn’t patient as well as others i’m sure the threats of ppl wanting to call the BBB due to false advertising would probably be going through.
Now get your **** in order and give us our game
You guys have one option that will turn this situation from a catastrophe to a triumph that will ensure drive club is loved and becomes a storied franchise: give PS+ subscribers the full game as originally promised. Give credit to those subscribers who already bought in. Eat the Dev cost, save the game, studio, and most importantly, your reputation. It’s worth it at this point. Right now nobody believes the server story and everybody believes the greedy story. Do the right thing.
The communication failures, false promises and overall shady behavior is something that I and many others will never forget. You should be ashamed of yourselves, and should be seriously considering changes to how you do business and treat your customers. Disgusting. Not only will I never buy a product from Evolution Studios, I will actively campaign against others spending their money on their products whenever I can. And Sony, you deserve a black mark on your company for a long, long time.
I wish things like this wouldn’t happen only because it gives the PlayStation brand a bad name :( (well it’s not just SONY it happens to. Loads of games seem to have online problems at 1st, GTAV, FIIFA15, SimCity etc etc) + Hopefully the next PS4 firmware update to will be o.k & work without any problems or i can see people getting very restless with SONY & the last thing SONY would want is them(SONY) spoiling the brilliant start to this Gen. Good luck anyway SONY & ES ;)
I have been a loyal fan of Sony / Playstation since the launch of the first Playstation. And i Gotta say I am very dissapointed on whats been happening with the Driveclub Game. ITs not our fault as consumers that the game was delayed, specially after it was promised to all the people who got the Day1 PS4. Those consumers (including myself), were happy to get a new NextGen Cosole that met our gaming expectations, and more excited that we were going to receive a free Digital Copy for our support and compromise in getting the PS4 on Day1. And what did we get? Nothing but full disrespect! DRIVECLUB, the free digital game that we were supposed to get for free for being the firsts on getting the console was delayed for what? Now we are left with nothing but a broken promise and a incomplete game, which by the way, we cannot download because the company was not prepared serverwise.
I mean come on, The game was supposed to come out on Day1 Launch date and the game still have problems? How so? all this time…..ALMOST A YEAR! and the game is not ready? andd we are supposed to stay and conform with the idea of downloading a version of the game that it is not complete??? Im sorry #Playstation and I am even more sorry for the #DRIVECLUB developers team. This is outrageous and if the people who support you let this go by I feel sorrry for them because if you can do it then another companies will keep doing this kind of practices and we are kept having hollow and broken promises. Way to go people! I just hope people get what im saying, people should understand what im bringing to the table, because at the end of it, if something was promised/offered, companies should deliver. Or else people should punish these companies by not promoting or buying their products. In fact this is the exact same as false advertisement, and that is a very real and nasty lawsuit to deal with. Just Saying!
A year delay has NOTHING TO DO WITH SERVERS. Imbeciles. Look at the reveal footage and the final game. The game improved tenfold in every way.
Server issues have nothing to do with development of the game. So trying to be clever and cite that year delay only showcases your idiocy, nothing more.
Tired of that. Seen it all over today. You can’t really test for the traffic you’ll get on launch, you can try but it doesn’t always work. Destiny had an alpha and open beta, yet still has had server issues itself (on all platforms).
@78: shush. It was never ever a promise to get thefull game for free. It was always a “PS Plus Editon” go rewatch E3 2013 when it was announced. Ignorance. Ignorance everywhere.
It’s never more clear how little most people understand about game development than when something goes wrong and everyone screams “FIX IT NOW!!” like a child. They’re working on it, children. Go play one of the 200 unplayed games you own and stop embarrassing yourself with more tantrums.
I foresee PS4’s big sales lead to shrink over the Xbox One, perhaps even lose the lead and momentum. PS3 started out rough but innovated and added a lot over time. PS4’s UI is barebones at best compared to Xbox One’s app support and features. Sony, it’s 2014 why is there no friggin YouTube app!?
So, if the PS Plus Edition isn’t available for download because of server issues, then why am I able to purchase and download the game still? Either release the Plus Edition for download or pull the ability to purchase the game until it’s fixed. That’s the only solution that’s “fair”.
@85 i am sure you need to read again, i never said the full game nor do i need to go rewatch the E3 video one more time, if i wanted the full game i would have bought it
i was only going to play the game until Project Cars came out to begin with, but this was a game that me and friends have been waiting on to get back to racing and having fun together since the days of PGR on the xbox
so sorry if it sounds insensitive or rude, it wasn’t meant to be at all
Sid,
THank you. It seems that you are late because it was Evolution that decided to not launch the game, Sony and Evo discussed it, and then they needed to get that information to the blog staff. I can understand a delay if there were many companies and many departments involved in the decision. I’ll also state that if the decision was made very early in the day when the full game had issues, then it should have been faster communicated to the public, or PS+ members.
@BLog posters,
The online code i so intermingled with the other functions of the game, you don’t just check a no online game button and publish it. They would have to re-test and certify the game again. So the best that one could have hoped for is to turn the servers off for it, which depending on the backend might not be easy too.
What I don’t understand is how games these days think that its OK to release a game when its obviously not finished. Yes i understand that the game was already delayed a total of around nine months, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that the game is incomplete. With a game such as GTA V which had a fantastic single player launch and honestly a quite poor multi player launch, I understood because I realized that it was the first open world GTA which had an online feature. Yes I was upset but I accepted it more because of the fact that it at least offered the very fun and just as exciting single player. There is a similar story to be told with BF4. The single player was alright and I had no real problems with it but the multi player was a wreck until the latest update a few weeks ago. I was very disappointed with this though because I spent $60 on the game for my brand new console and another $50 on Premium and I couldn’t play it.
This is a similar reason to why i am upset with DriveClub PS+ Edition. The full game is on the store easily accessible to anyone wanting to spend the $60 or $50 (depending on if they are PS+) to get the same game. The PS+ Edition of this game is already an extensive demo, you can at least let people download it whenever they can and at least give them the story mode to play. I was thinking of upgrading to the full game before this happened but now I would rather play the 10 tracks and 11 cars and delete it just like every other demo that I have ever played. I love Sony and i’m not saying only Sony does this but this issue really needs to be solved across the whole gaming industry or else this will become the normal thing and every game will feel like a Steam Early Access game but only for full price.
Thank you, that is all we really wanted was a response, if it was going to be delayed we don’t find a problem with that it was the lack of communication that made so many of us react in anger.
I feel that this is very unprofessional and inexcusable for Sony and Evolution. One year delay and on day one you can’t even get the severs right yet you have had a year to fix this. I think as a goodwill Evoultion or Sony should give all PS Plus players and people who bought Driveclub a $5 psn card for all the Bs and lack of communication prior to today.
BETA isn’t just a great videotape format.
Yo GAF, from FB:
We’re just as frustrated as you about the server performance issues right now. We want you to be racing with clubs and having fun playing challenges, not checking facebook updates from us to see if the servers are updated yet.
We’ll have more info for you later today (Thursday) so please bear with us while we work through this.
In case you don’t already know, the servers are up and running but they are hitting their performance limits, so they won’t accept new connections until one of the current online players frees up their space (allowing another to join in their place, which happens automatically and impartially).
1/2
2/2
If and when you get online, you should not have any connectivity issues during the remainder of your session. When you finish and disconnect, you’ll free up a space for someone else. This is obviously not ideal, especially given that there a lot of players waiting to connect, but that’s how it’s working right now.
The whole team here at Evolution Studios have got their shoulders to the wheel working hard to improve this situation: developing updates and upgrades to the servers – and testing these updates around the clock so that we can get them live. We hope you can enjoy the game offline while we work to improve the server performance and get you connected – and we’re sorry that you’re having to wait to play the game as we intended for it to be played.
“If and when you get online” LOL. Also, remember they just promised an update Thursday. Scumbags.
Thanks for the update. I’m a little disappointed but in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal. Keep up the great work and looking forward to the blogcast this week. On the “plus” side, it’s 75 degrees in Phoenix today, with my new free time I’m going to go for hike.
I like that continuing to SELL DriveClub when it’s supposedly so borked still sounds like a good idea.
I’ve made a complaint to the trading standards institute over this bull, everyone else should as well. the last straw considering the box my ps4 came in said i get drive club free in january