Sony And Evolution 'Embarrassed' Over Driveclub Launch

IGN - PlayStation UK boss Fergal Gara has admitted both the company and Evolution Studios is "embarrassed" over Driveclub's launch issues, and used it as an example for why games should be delayed if they're not ready.

Speaking to IGN in London earlier today, Gara offered an apologies to Sony fans, particularly in light of the decision to launch the PS4 under the "4ThePlayers" slogan, and promised the PS Plus version of the racer wouldn't be released until Sony is sure it won't suffer a repeat performance.

"It’s a disappointment," he said about the server troubles. "When you lay your soul out as being '4ThePlayers', then what you certainly don’t want is games that are not fully ready. It certainly wasn’t any ill-intention on behalf of the team. It’s ambitious as a game; they’re as embarrassed as we are and all you can do in those situations is say sorry.

[Gazondaily]

"It certainly wasn’t any ill-intention on behalf of the team."

Yeah of course. No one is claiming that (minus some fools who thought Evo was doing this on purpose so that you had to buy the actual game).

It is embarrassing but they can at least rest a little easier knowing that even the likes of 343 with Halo and DICE with BF4 have suffered with similar problems.

[JoGam]

Honestly they should be embarrassed. I have Drive Club and its a awesome game but it wasn't ready to released. So much work needed to be done.

[Gazondaily]

Yeah the year long delay makes things worse too. How they thought they could be ready for launch is beyond me.

[uth11]

I really don't think they realized it wasn't ready. Or else they would have done something like "Challenges will be coming with the weather patch later this year". That would have saved them a lot of embarrassment.

[theshonen8899]

To be honest, I really don't care about the multiplayer problems. The real sin in my eyes is the complete lack of Logitech wheel support. I really hope the PS4 adds support before GT7 comes out.

[OpenGL]

Little Big Planet 3 on PS4 is another one that wasn't ready to release. The load times are considerably worse than what was experienced on LBP1 and 2 on PS3, and the game had frequent crashes before the 1.03 patch came out 3 weeks after launch.

Performance also leaves a lot to be desired with online levels that were created using the previous games. It frequently locks up and there is often near-constant image tearing.

There seems to be a trend this generation with developers rushing to get their games out in an unfinished form. Assassin's Creed Unity, Drive Club, LBP3, Master Chief Collection, and I'm sure even more. Even GTA V, a game that came out more than a year ago on previous gen consoles still has online issues.

[Ghoul]

@Septic

Actually i could bet my ass that the game was very different prior the year delay.
this smells like a publisher decision changing core mechanics, such changes can easily take you out of scedule not beeing able to proceed fighting bugs until the "new" route has been worked through.
And then you hit a spot were youre forced to push the product out fingers crossed

[WeAreLegion]

Load times? Load times on LBP3 are significantly faster than LBP and LBP2. Something might be wrong with yours.

[NuggetsOfGod]

Think the game sold well anyway lol

Imo forza deserved the better sales.

[StrawberryDiesel420]

Just like Halo MCC, games rushed out for the Holiday(Black Friday) is what it comes down to.

[guitarded77]

@ StrawberryDiesel420

But DriveClub wasn't "rushed" for the holiday season. It was given an extra year of development, during which, there was no beta to stress test servers, or even see if the code was right.

There was no more delaying this game. Had they delayed it again, that would have been an even bigger embarrassment. Sony and Evo screwed the pooch with DC. They should be embarrassed, and I hope they learned from this.

We're still waiting for the PS+ version too.

[morganfell]

This article is more than a little late. Sony dropped the ball on Drive Club. That is true. But lets not examine the fact that had they delayed it again they would have been lambasted to no end while continually delayed titles like The Witcher 3 get a pass. Sorry IGN jerks but you cannot have it both ways. What can we expect though from an organization that is a disservice to gamers and employs exactly zero standards and uniformity in the manner in which various companies are treated.

Sony dropped the ball. Now the day after a jawdropping patch is released (Neogaf is stunned by it) this launch type article surfaces. Someone really doesn't want Drive Club to do well no matter what occurs.

[andrewer]

If I read somewhere "From the same testers of AC Unity" everything would be clear xD

But really, who the hell are those testers who give an okay to these games?

[Spotie]

@Guitarded: no beta? So what is this article talking about?

http://n4g.com/news/1574209...

Look, I get it. Evolution screwed up. But let's not go short changing them. Besides, if it were something a stress test could have discovered, I don't think it would have taken so long to fix.

[Dee_91]

"PlayStation UK boss Fergal Gara has admitted both the company and Evolution Studios is "embarrassed" over Driveclub's launch issues, and used it as an example for why games should be delayed if they're not ready."

Umm no, considering the (main) issue is server capacity, delaying it wouldn't have helped.What would have helped would have been multiplayer demos or betas.You can't simulate how much stress your server can handle ... apparently.You have to put it under actual stress, by thousands of gamers.
This is just my assumption of course.Because it seem like most of the games that suffer these issues don't have demos and betas and can only spot the issues after the servers are under load

@Spotie
If I remember correctly that was a closed beta.So not many people had access.. They specifically said its the server capacity.
http://n4g.com/news/1636326...
So yes a substantial stress test would have fixed the issues for the most part.
Like I said in that article, managing servers I assume is something relatively new to a lot of developers.So I can't really fault them for much.. aside from not releasing a multiplayer demo or beta and such.

[fr0sty]

343, Dice, even Bethesda had issues that made Skyrim unplayable due to game breaking bugs when it launched, and it isn't even an online game. It's too common these days for games to launch broken. They have become so complex to make that it's difficult to put together a well-tested game in the time budget that is allowed to these studios when they embark on a multimillion dollar project. Publishers want the game out ASAP to start earning money and so they don't have to keep dishing out checks to programmers and artists out of that game's budget. They don't always give the devs the time they need to properly test their game, so we can't put all the blame on the devs. However, in the case of Driveclub, you should never launch an online dependent game without a proper beta.

[Kingthrash360]

At guitarded
True drive club had and extra year.
But MCC are remakes and ports of old games from old systems...so that nullified that argument......also ms has that 100000000 servers too
Tbh both disappointed as far as online playing was concerned ...I'm just happy they weren't acu's level of incomplete.
That's who this article should be aimed at imo

[Christopher]

I think it was mismanaged. We kept seeing improvements to the graphics on an almost monthly basis. They should have set milestones and tested those at whatever level of graphics they had achieved. Once they had met those with public tests, then they could release and patch in updates to graphics like they are doing with weather.

To be honest, I hope some of the management gets replaced because of this game. It is apparent that the ball was dropped way too often and they need people in there that can manage milestones much better than the current set of managers.

[NeoGamer232]

Agreed. You don't get three weeks before launch in 2013 and then say the game isn't ready. They knew there were problems long before that and they were not addressed properly because almost a year later it really wasn't ready for launch.

To me, DriveClub, Halo MCC, BF4, and Assassin's Creed Unity go down as the biggest screw ups in gaming. It has really given games a bad reputation this past year.

[G20WLY]

I wouldn't be surprised if some heads rolled - and rightly so. The only saving grace is that the game turned out great eventually!

Now they have to hope it doesn't impact early sales of their next game (Motorstorm?!) due to cautious buyers.

Side note: Is that picture really necessary? "Fail Club" - really? The title is clear enough and "Fail Club" is immaturely trolling what is finally a great product. Can we change it, to avoid misleading people into thinking there are further problems?

[fr0sty]

I wouldn't say bumping up the visuals caused any of the server troubles, they just didn't test the online aspects of this game enough. They didn't even have a beta. That is a fatal mistake this day and age with a game that relies on connectivity.

[Christopher]

***I wouldn't say bumping up the visuals caused any of the server troubles, ***

This isn't just about server issues. This is about the full on year delay in addition to the notably disastrous release. One can only imagine what the game would have looked like or played if it was released last year when it was intended.

***they just didn't test the online aspects of this game enough.***

There were a lot more failures in the management of this game than just not testing. You don't delay a game twice for so long without other issues.

***They didn't even have a beta.***

Part of properly managing a game. Also a sign that the game just wasn't ready, IMHO.

[360ICE]

@Regarding the delay, that's pretty typical for IT projects and game development. Suddenly you hit a bug that requires changes throughout the entire system, and before you know it, you have several months of extra work ahead of you.

[Christopher]

No. A whole year delay is not typical in IT projects unless they are horribly mismanaged or major changes are made in the process.

Even Sony cited, though I'm sure it was heavily played down, that Driveclub was delayed due to social gameplay issues. Those exact same issues that caused them to have such a huge issue at launch. I think it was way more than that based on how much was improved outside of social features during that time.

The point of managing a project is understanding its scope, your workforce, and utilizing the resources you have to set milestones. Driveclub was a horrible representation of how to develop a game. First the whole year push back (which is a major thing to do now and is a sign of issues), then the ongoing issues at release after the huge dealy, and the game was incomplete (still were working on weather).

[360ICE]

@cgoodno

Oh. Guess my lecturers were either wrong or lying then.

Seriously, though, and to be a little more specific. It's not typical IN IT, but typical FOR IT Projects. Meaning that specifically IT projects have more delays than other projects.

A whole year might not be the standard, but there's something called Chaos Theory in IT, which reflects how incredibly many projects are delayed or end up exceeding their budget.

The same reasons for these delays transfer to game development. It's an unpredictable business.

You don't have to know the theory behind it to recognise this, though. Just take a look at how many other games either are or have been delayed for almost as long, or for even longer than Driveclub. Many huge projects don't even see the light of day.

Driveclub is also quite ambitious, so defining the scope for tasks that have never been done before, is even more difficult.

[Gemmol]

@360ICE

so how do Nintendo handle these bugs

[Gh05t]

If any of my IT projects were pushed back a year and turned out with this many problems, I would be out of a job.

This isn't a little scope creep. This was bad project management from start to finish.

"Oh. Guess my lecturers were either wrong or lying then"

You will find that many lecturers are wrong. There is a reason for the saying "...those who can't teach."

Not to mention if you are being taught that it is standard for projects to be delayd and come in over time and budget than you need a different teacher. the point should be to teach you how to maintain both by good planning.

[360ICE]

@gho5t
It's what you feel is the case in your job versus decades of empiricial research. It's not the same for all businesses or industries, but for the industry as a whole, delays are frequent and budgets are blown often.

Regarding my lecturers, I'd rather take their word -- and the research they're citing -- than someone on the Internet, any day of the week. No offense.

And to reiterate, I never said it was the standard. I said it's more frequent in IT than in other businesses.

[Christopher]

***Oh. Guess my lecturers were either wrong or lying then.
***

They definitely were if that's what they told you.

As a person who is a programmer, if any of my projects are delayed by a year, I would be fired. Heck, I'd be fired for six months of delay.

*** It's not typical IN IT, but typical FOR IT Projects. Meaning that specifically IT projects have more delays than other projects. ***

I agree that IT projects typically have more delays. But not on the order of being a whole year late. That's exactly what I said to you above.

Now, do more IT projects have a chance of being delayed by a year than other things? Sure. but that's a horrible failure and is not how long things typically are delayed. Not by a long shot. And projects that are delayed that long? Somebody is getting fired.

***A whole year might not be the standard,***

What you just said, versus what you said before: "the delay, that's pretty typical for IT projects". Note you said "The delay" and not "a delay". The delay in question is one for more than a year. So, when you said "the delay" you are specifically talking about

That's what I was responding to.

How am I wrong in what I've said when you just said the same thing?

I think your issue is in how you get your point across and then arguing against someone who is specifically saying what you just did for whatever reason there is.

We're all just people on the Internet, but go ask a programmer at EA how they would feel if he had to delay a project, twice, taking more than an extra year of work to finish. Certain 99% of them will tell you exactly what Gh05t and I have said.

[360ICE]

@cgoodno
In case I was unclear the first time, I specified the second time around. It wasn't my intention to say that most IT projects are delayed or that it's common for them to be delayed by a whole year, but it happens in IT more so than in most other businesses.

Note that my comment was made in the context of being a reply to Septic. It adresses his comments, and more specifically it was meant to adress "how they thought they could be ready for launch is beyond me"

If you re-read my first comment, I think you'll find that it's really more about explaining why these delays arise in IT and video game development than about saying that most games are delayed by a year. I know that it wasn't very specific, and can be read as a general statement more than a reply, but then again, this is the Internet and I specified what I meant in my second comment.

However, it still doesn't seem to me like we're in agreement, unless you're drawing a clear distinction between video game development and IT (I've been using the two terms a bit carelessly). A year's worth of delay in video game development as per today, simply doesn't require horrible mismanagement or even for major changes to be made. Delays in AAA development for the new hardware has indeed bordered on being the norm and some articles written on Kickstarter found delays to be the rule, rather than the exception. Furthermore, half of 2014 has been pushed back to 2015.

Regarding EA, I guess we can ask the Battlefield: Hardline developers, seeing how they're in a very similar situation. As they have been with several other Battlefield games, as well as Mirror's Edge.

[Christopher]

*** A year's worth of delay in video game development as per today, simply doesn't require horrible mismanagement or even for major changes to be made.***

It does if:

1. The delay doesn't involve decisions to change major gameplay elements. This is not the case with Driveclub.

2. The delay comes along with a horrible release, whether game-breaking bugs or online features that are relied upon and do not work for more than a day or two.

I see no reason to not blame poor management for this game. Twice delayed means they failed to even understand their own milestones. Finally released and with disastrous results means they didn't properly SQA the game, which means failure by management.

[360ICE]

@cgoodno
I'm more inclined to agree with you now that you've included those two points, which exclude a lot of delayed games.

Then again, the second point means that the game has had a failed release, and it's possible to argue that all failed releases are due to mismanagement, whether the failure can be attributed to the publisher or the developer. If your stance is (I'm being hypothetical here) that failed releases are unacceptable, then won't every failed release by extension be mismanaged?

However, I still think an ambitious project (ambitious is almost implied in AAA for new hardware) can hit some major bumps, causing it to be delayed, without being mismanaged. Defining the scope of tasks that have never been done before can, generally speaking, be incredibly hard.

That being said, I'm not sure exactly what constitutes Driveclub's launch. It might very well be bad management. Driveclub's director left Evolution, but that was, if I recall correctly, due to his son being sick. I probably shouldn't speculate, though, and for wwhat it's worth I think DC turned out great eeventually.

[Christopher]

***If your stance is (I'm being hypothetical here) that failed releases are unacceptable, then won't every failed release by extension be mismanaged? ***

From a business perspective, yes. The problem in those instances tends to be having to meet specific release schedules and not planning properly to meet those deadlines. While I understand there are issues out of control of many manager's hands, upper management pushing these requirements are included in this, though rarely ever take any blame for a release.

This is one reason why you develop a rule of telling management that it will take you 20% longer to do something than you think it will and why those managers tend to fudge it up 20% more to upper management. But, there are instances where upper management has a set time frame, a set goal for the game, and if it's not met then blame it on the people that they force to do too much work in too short of time.

Regardless of who is at fault, middle management or upper management, it was mismanaged.

Driveclub doesn't fall anywhere in this line of thought. 99% of games developed for PC/consoles now don't fall anywhere in this line of thought.

[joab777]

It was pushed and pushed hard. It's too bad it happened how it did b/c when all is said and done, I think it will be quite an amazing game.

They are pushing boundaries and hopefully learning things that other Sony studios can put to use.

[Gamer1982]

"PlayStation UK boss Fergal Gara has admitted both the company and Evolution Studios is "embarrassed" over Driveclub's launch issues, and used it as an example for why games should be delayed if they're not ready. "
Erm it was delayed... TWICE!! For a whole damn year! I have a lot of love for the guys at evolution but they clearly had issues with this game as it was something new for them. It might be racing but it was a different type and not only that it was on a new console. If it was a motorstorm I feel they wouldn't have had as many hiccups as they did.

[DigitalHope]

It does suck that it happened, but at least some good is coming out of all of it. Just not from Driveclub, but all the games, across multiple platforms releasing broken. It's not like a one time thing and it gets forgotten. There has been enough garbage and controversy for it to stick this year.

Already seeing a lot of high profile games being pushed back and they should be better for it.

[gangsta_red]

I'm really starting to think that the delay of the game was only a strategic move by Sony to fill the gap of having no games to launch for this year.

I mean a year delay and most of the features and online weren't even present, not to mention the PS+ version which is all but canceled.

What exactly where they doing for that year? Improving graphics...for a whole year!?

No, I think the game was ready and was put on hold to not only compete with Horizon 2 but to release something in the long gap.

[Christopher]

What? No games to launch this year?

- Second Son
- MLB The show
- The Last of Us
- Natural Doctrine
- Samurai Warriors 4
- Singstar
- LBP3
- Akiba's Trip
- FFXIV
- MXGP
- Dynasty Warriors 8
- Bound By Flame
- Le Tour de France
- MotoGP 14
- Air Conflicts Vietnam

There were plenty of games out that weren't on the competition (XBO) at retail alone. Sure, they aren't the best of games overall, but it's more than the competition and it's spread out pretty evenly.

I don't think your theory has any weight considering Sony didn't know at 2013 E3 that they needed Driveclub this Holiday Season. To be honest, they didn't. It's only a view that you must have a lot at this time that drives that, and that's silly considering how much exclusives tend to lose out to multiplatform titles during this time of the year.

[gangsta_red]

C'mon Cgoodno, a lot of those titles are really scraping the bottom, as you yourself even eluded and mentioned. That was a very weak attempt at proving a point and just proved how lackluster Sony's own 1st party line up truly was.

And I also meant no games in the middle of this year, don't know why I put launch. My apologies...But still my point stands..

"I don't think your theory has any weight..."

Hmmmm, really?

No PS+ version, the game is only 30fps and is not open world..Forza 5 is 1080p/60fps, half of the promised features are missing and most are appearing just now and a broken online that the devs admitted had to be re-written. All this PLUS a year delay...so you really think there's no weight to my theory eh?

That whole year delayed was just spent tweaking graphics...no testing, no features and nothing else right?

If Driveclub didn't release when it did what else could Sony fill in it's place?

[Christopher]

***C'mon Cgoodno, a lot of those titles are really scraping the bottom, as you yourself even eluded and mentioned. ***

No more so than many of the ones on the competitor's side.

***That was a very weak attempt at proving a point and just proved how lackluster Sony's own 1st party line up truly was. ***

Weaker than your attempt to play the "Sony has no games" card?

***And I also meant no games in the middle of this year***

But there were games in the middle of the year...

***No PS+ version, the game is only 30fps and is not open world..Forza 5 is 1080p/60fps, half of the promised features are missing and most are appearing just now and a broken online that the devs admitted had to be re-written. All this PLUS a year delay...so you really think there's no weight to my theory eh? ***

Your theory that the game was delayed to have a game out right now, and yet you provide proof that it should have been delayed longer...

***If Driveclub didn't release when it did what else could Sony fill in it's place?***

Natural Doctrine came out a week earlier. LittleBigPlanet 3 a month later.

But, even then, why weren't you using this logic the 6 months that XBO had practically nothing out on XBO? Why must there be a Sony exclusive "right at this time"?

[sweendog]

What have MS first party studios released in the first year? Forza, halo and Forza. Yeah count third party games if you like but most of those studios picked MS because they thought xbox would dominate in the U.S like the 360 did. Hasnt turned out that way has it. I wonder who they will choose to release games for in the future

[sourav93]

I was going to wait for the PS+ edition, but with the new weather patch, I couldn't resist. I was going to get the full game eventually, so it's not too much of problem. The fact that I got for only £25 makes it even better.

[Magicite]

Should have been delayed at least a couple more months and deliver at launch.

[ps4gamer1983]

Sony usually never releas3s a game that messed up. Sony should quit working with evolution studios IMO for the simple fact(s) that Evolution:

1. Delayed the game for a long time and still released a crap game

2. Game was incomplete (weather)

3. The actual gameplay is nothing special

[Muzikguy]

I'm not saying it was intentional. They should be embarrassed that's for sure. All these games coming out with problems and a slogan like that, just doesn't make you look good. Companies need to start upping their game a little bit IMO. These kinds of problems shouldn't be acceptable anymore. There have been generations now where we've been in the "internet" age. This stuff isn't new anymore. I'm glad to see action being taken though. What this has told me? No more day 1 purchases of online only games!

[XanderZane]

I'm wondering why they are still talking about this disaster of a game. They should just let it R.I.P. at this point. Still no PS+ version and the weather patch they released seem to be causing new problems with the gameplay. A full year in delay and they still couldn't get it right. Move along, nothing to see here.

[lodossrage]

As they should be.

But the majority of the issues are fixed so I'm happy. A bigger problem would have been if it wasn't working and they just left it that way.

[PizzaSteve]

Give me a new Motor Storm on PS4 and all is forgiven. Even though I think Driveclub is a good game.

[viperman240]

can't wait for Motorstorm 4, in case you forgot how its going to turn out :)

http://imgur.com/a/C5uAD

[pivotplease]

Maan is that futuristic/post-apocalyptic Motorstorm? That's the best concept for a racing game I've seen in a long time.

[meganick]

Motorstorm with PS4 visuals would be amazing. 3D support would be even better.

[Rhezin]

Agreed! I'd love another motorstorm. Prob my favorite arcade racer next to Road Rash.

[medman]

The sad part is there was no need to be embarrassed, this situation was completely avoidable...I hope they learn from it and don't let something like this happen again. The same thing really applies across the board, what with broken Halo 5 multiplayer and the Assassin's Creed mess, there is a lot of fumbling of the ball going on this gen so far. I understood some of the issues with launch titles, but not for titles a year out from release. Unacceptable. I can only hope it gets corrected for 2015, because the slate of games on offer looks stellar thus far, but the promise of those games would be completely derailed if issues like this persist into 2015.

[Gazondaily]

"what with broken Halo 5 multiplayer"

Don't you mean The Master Chief Collection?

[SmokingMonkey]

Was there a beta for DC?

Master Chief collection?

This sort of thing comes with having games being online all the time deal with it...I mean get used to it.

[uth11]

DC had betas but they were closed and not large enough.

[Imalwaysright]

Getting used to being shafted despite these companies getting our hard earned money?

http://www.redtoadmedia.com...

[SmokingMonkey]

Capitalism at it's best.

[cruzngta]

About time they admitted the obvious.

[Scatpants]

They should be embarrassed. The game is still awesome though.

[Speak_da_Truth]

At least they admitted it Now that the game is fully working just bring on the new content and I'm good.

[WickedLester]

In my eyes, what Driveclub needs now more than anything is a racing line and/or the option to use driver assists. Once you get past Semi Pro level, the difficulty of Driveclub really spikes and I've sort of hit a wall with Tour Mode. Don't get me wrong, I still love the game and I play it almost daily. However I've given up on progressing in Tour mode because I can't get any further.

[lsujester]

The biggest thing I had issues with once I hit Super and especially Hyper was throttle control. Ease back into the throttle coming out of the turn or you'll end up in the ditch, especially in something like that Hennessey.

[BattleTorn]

Well, I bought bought it from work online, so I'll be playing it tonight.

I got namely due to the overwhelmingly awesome weather update!!!

[tlougotg]

Omg your going to be amazed, most of it looks photo realistic and the weather!!!!! my god havent put it down since weather pdate hit! Everytime i tunr it on im in awe at the graphics!

Its sad because they did mess up with the online component but you can tell these devs are super talented and the game itself is well polished and handles really good. This in VR would be bonkers.

[BattleTorn]

THB I didn't give a second thought to online. I'll be playing offline, or with 1 friend

[WickedLester]

BattleTorn,

Private lobbies aren't possible yet but Evolution is working on it. As awesome as the game is, there's still a lot of room for improvement. Replay mode, private lobbies, driving assists (optional), the addition of a racing line (optional), more customization options, etc. There's a lot that can be added to make the game even better.

[jhoward585]

Evo you can make the embrassment disappear just by releasing DC+ edtion to players. it can be Offline Online, it desnt matter to me.

[KillerPwned]

Just my opinion I think Sony pushed them to release this ASAP and in response it ended in failure. Now that is not to say that game is crap because it looks really fun and visuals especially with the new weather update looks amazing. Their have been plenty of examples in the gaming industry that no matter what do not rush projects!!!!! Money grubbing execs seem to not realize that or someone don't all you gotta think of is E.T Atari 2600 lol.

So in that case yeah I think Sony and Evolution should be embarrassed but not just them plenty of companies are guilty of this year round.

[TheTwelve]

Great game but this has definitely dampened my hype for it. All kinds of games compete for my attention and this fell short due to these issues.

[MrUndrhill]

It was a shame, but I do think that this game is going to build into something amazing. The launch was a crazy clusterf**%, but now it is a blast and the new weather system is incredible.

[Sketchy_Galore]

It wouldn't have been so bad if they had released the PSplus edition first and held off on the full version until it was ready. I might have understood an approach of, 'Hey have this free limited version while we figure it all out and then those who feel the need for more can pay for the full version when it's ready' but promising the free version then denying it while releasing the unfinished game at full price is a scumbag move.

[Father__Merrin]

its a shame its a good game that just needs more content, surely they could add 100's more races just generated ones, but i feel it hasnt got the car rosta number to facilitate being any larger than it is

[Rimeskeem]

As long as they learned I think it's ok

[keki]

take it as a lesson!

[u-bEttA-rUn]

its okay we understand just make us feel like you appreciate us and don't do that shit again

[JoGam]

Whats up man? How u been? U grab a ps4 yet?

[u-bEttA-rUn]

Hey bro not yet :(
I am soon though.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

The only thing that strikes me odd is this game was delayed over a year... a full year. How bad was this game before when it was supposed to release at the launch of the PS4?

[SilentNegotiator]

They should be. Now give me my PS+ edition.

[mochachino]

A shame too, most people that bought the game think it has excellent racing gameplay.

...but where tf is the Plus version?

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

It's a good thing they feel embarrassed. They know they screwed up. I'm glad they are patching it consistently though. The game is actually pretty damn awesome, more people should give it a chance.

[windblowsagain]

I personally think Evolution have redeemed themselves with the free tracks/cars and the weather update.

MP works totally fine for me and I'm actually winning one of the challenges:)

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Drasill]

The odds of this studio getting shutdown are extremely high.

[FernandoMartinez]

Well... They should be... Lying pieces of shit...

[GameLover56]

It's Sony nothing new worst company ever

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

Going to Best Buy tomorrow to have them match Amazons price of $35 (Im a prime member) but then use $15 in rewards coupons & my Gamers Club membership for 20% off... I'd pay that much for it for sure!

[LanceLORD]

Detected:
1% of people here actually played DriveClub.
99% talking bullshit.

DriveClub is fantastic, period.

Needs improvement? As any game that captivates it's audience and makes them want more: private lobby and replay mode. But those who didn't know, since its inception there where 12 months of planned DLC. 12 months, since its inception!

The "rain patch" was the third full DLC. Since launch, DC got 5 new tracks, almost 10 cars, Photo Mode... and now fantastic rain and snow precipitation. All of this in less than 2 months! We already have 10 months ahead! And online is up all the way now.

SO PLEASE... SHUP UP AND PLAY DRIVECLUB NOW!

[jackwei22]

I wasn't sure at first to get this game but after I've seen the weather effects and I've heard the game is fixed now makes me want to buy this game as it looks brilliant especially in some those video I've seen on youtube.

[LanceLORD]

Once you dominate the Golf GTI - the first car - and start to ramping up choosing many BMWs, Aston Martins and Ferraris, each one with it's own "driving quirks", cutting edges to get timed stars, against a very competitive AI or random online events (which is great as you don't know what car you will get and making things more unpredictable), with a very tight and responsive controls and after all: jawbreaking visuals like the most beautiful sunsets you will ever see in a game, summits getting darker beside mountains, or just using the reflective signs to guide you in nightly runs, you will only stop playing to pause in Photo Mode and take you beautiful desktop background to remeber at work that you will play more tonight.

This is DriveClub, NOW.

[metalgod88]

Looking at the gamer stance, yeah its disappointing. Looking at the developer stance, the challenge system is complex architecture. It connects players to thousands of players, so its no surprise they had server issues.

This could have been prevented by open beta stress tests. I'm sure they knew that internal testing wouldn't be enough, and it wasn't. I'm sure there were deadlines that needed to be made to prevent a large stress test on the servers and its unfortunate.

However, now that they have got the whole game working, its become so much more fun. If sony supported most racing wheels, then this would become a game I'd play for a long long time.

[Vipre77]

"All you can do in those situations is say sorry."

Really? That's all you can do? How about a partial refund for paying customers that had a half-broken game for a good while? Or some how about some kind of commitment for some extra exclusive free DLC (more than a simple livery or something please) for us early adopters that bought it within the first couple of weeks after launch? There's plenty more than a "sorry" that could be done.

[LanceLORD]

Since launch, they gave us 5 extra tracks, more than 10 cars, 2 event tours, and I think 10 PSN trophies.

ALL THIS FOR FREE. Are you really playing DC?

[Hanuman]

Except for the throphies, those numbers are normal for racing games and were announced before launch. It will take a whole lot more 'GOOD NEWS' to get me back onboard. I've spend 40E on DriveClub PS+ Edition and have a one positive thing to say about it; I'm glad I didn't pay full price..

[Vipre77]

Yes, I have the game and play it, though admittedly a lot less lately. You see, I was unable to convince any of my friends to buy the game that I had planned to play with. They don't want to spend money on a game that doesn't work right. While that impression is not necessarily true anymore, the damage is already done. The game is decidedly less fun when played with people I don't know. Lastly, those things you mentioned are given to everyone. Nothin special for those that paid full price and dealt with all the BS network issues. You just bought the game today for the new cut-rate price because of the game's launch troubles that are now obviously impacting sales? Hey, free stuff for you too.

[GNCFLYER]

This article is too late but ign usually doesntmiss an opportunity to take a crack at sony. Not sugar coating it like some.

I wonder what their new review scoreof DC will be since its fixed and the best looking game on console.

[Yaay4me]

I have to agree with both points you made.

[Khronikos]

The game is fantastic. I don't think I deserved a refund at all. The concern trolls are hilarious though. Never played the game don't plan on playing it but they sure are CONCERNED about Driveclub.

[DJ]

It was a bad launch, but the problems only lasted a few weeks and Evolution kept us updated almost every day with fixes to the game. Now the game's absolutely amazing.

In comparison, Battlefield 4 was broken for a year and EA literally took no responsibility.

[WitWolfy]

I asked on DC's Facebook page and PSN's official Driveclub page for a refund that fell on deaf ears.

This game is a MESS and for a dude like me who LOVES racing games this arcade racer just felt like it failed on EVERY corner.

For example.. I'd literally be dashing 220KM/h on a straight and a AI car will still pass me like I'm looking for parking, then end up taking a turn like a BOSS when I fly into a FREAKING wall when I try to drift it at my current speed like him.. WTF!

Physic for the win there... What a shitty game.

[llMurcielagoll]

I've never regretted a game purchase as much as I did with this crap of a game DriveClub.

Never again will I make a hasty decision in game purchase. It is not the server issues I am complaining about. Lot's of games get rough launches.

Driveclub just did not agree with me overall.

Live and learn.

[JMyers]

The thing is the game's single player campaign is good, with goregous graphics, lighting, physics and gameplay overall. The crucial and advertised part of the game.. CLUBS.. still has issues. This is not good. I have never seen a first party title from Sony release in this way. The game should be pushed back again. Imagine this was already delayed a full year and still the game doesn't work online.

This isn't the only game though. MCC still has online issues, especially with Match making, and AC Unity was a buggy mess. These games shouldn't get a free pass either. Regardless of it being Halo or Ubisoft. I think there are some double standards when it comes to reviews of these games not working fully upon release.

[Yaay4me]

I like how honest he is being. The game is lots of fun and looks out of this world. Such a shame that its launch was so buched up n now many people wont get to enjoy it.

[N8]

Did the PS Plus version come out yet?

[Smitty2020]

If the game wasn't ready why release it? That goes for all games

[spence52490]

They need to be sorry about the ram simulator the online aspect has become. Project cars please save us. I like to race clean but I pay for it evey turn.