One of Sony’s few PlayStation 4 exclusives from 2014 is still failing to deliver on all of its promises.
Subscribers are still waiting for the free version of Driveclub for PlayStation Plus, and that wait may continue indefinitely. DriveClub is a racing game that debuted in October for Sony’s latest console (read our review). Back in October, it was supposed to get a stripped-down free-to-play version for anyone that pays the monthly fee for Sony’s premium online service, but the PlayStation company’s backing away from promising that will ever happen.
Speaking to U.K. news organization Metro, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Jim Ryan explained that the free release of Driveclub is “still being looked at.” But when pressed on whether he could plainly guarantee that it would still happen, Ryan said he couldn’t “say anything at this stage.”
We’ve asked Sony Computer Entertainment America for more on this — and whether this applies to worldwide markets. We’ll update this post with its statement.
Driveclub is one of many games that launched last year with severe issues. It’s online component was busted, and developer Evolution Studios turned off many of the features to help it perform better. The source of the problems was an unexpected level of player demand on the servers. These issues lasted for the first few weeks after release and forced Sony to delay the PS Plus Edition.
“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,” PlayStation World Wide Studio president Shuhei Yoshida wrote in a blog post back in October. “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.”
Driveclub is now running as the designers intended, but Sony has not announced any definite plans for the PS Plus Edition. With a high-level company representative stopping short of promising to deliver the game, it’s possible Sony may want to eventually scrap the idea all together.