Another fall video game season begins, another online-related launch failure puts frowns on the faces of gamers. Turn 10 Studios' Forza Horizon 2 launched a week ago and suffered from connectivity issues on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One and this week Evolution Studios and publisher Sony are in a rough patch as they struggle to rectify server-related connectivity issues for the online-focused DriveClub. Welcome to next-gen gaming!
The PS4 exclusive racer - really the only new racer for PS4 this year - was first hit by major delays after it was initially unveiled as a next-gen launch title for Sony's latest home console. Amidst confusion over whether DriveClub wasgoing to actually be free for PlayStation Plus subscribers (it's not, they just get a demo), the game launched this week. We had the chance to play it before launch day and scored the game rather favorably in our DriveClub review.
Then came launch time and down came the servers. It's a tried and true story of frequent disappointment. A game that didn't deliver on its full potential, came late, is actually not delivering at all on the only features it has that are notably different and interesting - it's online Clubs system and social competitive features. Buyers of the full version of the game can still however take part in the single player Tour mode and level up their character when they are unable to connect. As a result, the PlayStation Plus version of the game (i.e. the demo) is not available and has been delayed.
Now it's Thursday, and the servers are still problematic. Evolution took to DriveClub's official Facebook page to post an update and a heartfelt apology. It's not a good time for them either obviously:
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 player selection is random).
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 are 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 online as we intended for it to be played.
From this description for how the game functions once connected and how other players can take your "space" it sounds evident that Evolution and Sony were simply not prepared to launch the game and it's a matter of not having the server capacity to support the player load, which is odd given the knowledge they have of digital download and pre-order numbers. It's an ugly and unfortunately situation for the devs and fans but ultimate the publisher/developer failed to deliver on the product at launch. And these sorts of comments are what happens as a result:
For now enjoy the 28 brand new screenshots that were meant to celebrate the launch of Driveclub.
Here are the eye-catching previous screenshots, including a three hot ones highlighting the Mercedes-AMG GT (yellow car) and two renders of the gorgeous Huayra Pagani.
DriveClub is available exclusively on PlayStation 4.
Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.
Source: Evolution Studios