Evolution Studios: We're As Frustrated About DriveClub Issues As You Are

Still can't believe what a mess this is. Absolutely horrendous launch, terrible communication, and quite possibly a marketing scam to get ps plus users to buy the 49.99 version for fear of few actually upgrading. It is obviously only a conspiracy theory, one that is 97.6% probably not true, but the moment I saw that the full 59.99 version said "unavailable to purchase"(immediately after I read a few reviews) was very conspicuous to say the least.

My question is, if there was a server issue like they've stated why not still go ahead with the PlayStation Plus version but lock out the multiplayer side until such time that they were up and running.

The Destiny Alpha didn't have any issues with the servers like Evolution Studios are claiming Driveclub is having.

I have been having issues with PSN of late and maybe that has something to do with it. To me though, this whole Driveclub server issue seems like a way to make a few retail sales before allowing people to try it for free and that could be due to the mixed reviews. It makes sense from a business stand point in the short term but with other racing games due out real soon that could come back to bite them in the arse.

They've already had nearly an extra year to work on Driveclub and in all that time didn't anyone think about issues that could arise with server connections.

Even if what they're say is true the damage has already been done with people thinking as this as some kind of business tatic.

Just a complete opposite from the way the stellar Forza Horizon 2 was handled. A substantial pre-launch demo, a very high quality finished product, really the biggest complaint I've seen is being hurled at the DLC but Sony does the DLC stuff too and frankly week one DLC is far less an issue than an average-slightly average game that had its release managed in one of the most piss-poor ways possible. Hopefully Evolution doesn't screw up this bad with the sequel.

@get2sammyb Thats true a beta would have given them the data to forsee issues like this. Just look what happen with Rockstars GTA V online. They did some kind of online clone player server test and that still failed.

To many people are stressing over the (I understand as I've been waiting since launch for a good next gen racer) Driveclub issue but we have got three free games this month and Driveclub will make the forth so atleast we have something new to occupy us in the meantime.

@Gamer83 The sequel? Oh well um i suppose that could happen as well... Your lead up to that comment is ya know.

My only worry is that Sony has had an unbelievable head start over its closest rivel but with so many delays, PSN going down and there first party games not living upto the hype I fear they're just making it too easy for Microsoft to sell the X1 as the better online and first party experience.

There is no way this is a scam. It is an unmitigated disaster. No company would do that to themselves. It will be interesting to see if DC can recover from this, my guess is only partially. They have potentially halved their sales IMO.

Please dont add salt to the wound evolution , No you are not as frustrated as the consumer as we are the little people who got ripped off but sadly the good people who are low on the totem pole over at evolution will be out of a job very soon while the major players run off w bags of cash because layoffs of the working class seems like the current trend of how the industry choose to clean up their mess after a major heist.

Now who's to blame here? Well initially the development and publisher but at this point its soley on the comsumer myself included because we have been letting these corporations get away w murder and well the moment gaming goes 100 percent digital is when we lose all our rights as well as uber protection for corporations to do as they please without worry of any legal problems etc although they are getting away with theft using every illegal marketing and false advertisement practice while we do have rights, we chose the right to wait and ask for more punishment .

Well no weather effects nor photo mode nor online play day 1 and day 2 and please dont defend evolution because thats part of the problem. Just as you wouldnt buy a car, marketing to have a V8 engine, only to be told sorry you will get that later due to stock issues after buying the car . Would you accept this practice anywhere else? I dont think many would so why with games ?

They are maximizing profitability imo as psplus free edition is the worse marketing decision ive seen in a long time as corporations will opt for us to buy a purchase blind rather than test drive 9 out of 10 times so someone decided to use server problem which worked seemlessly pre launch may i add due to pre order numbers being low as well as target of profitability being way off so yes i believe they are hot fixing to get the last drop of sales especially w the luke warm reviews .

May i add that a game built w social connection etc well at the least needs a public server stress test ala beta but oddly there was none to speak of.

I know my gramar is aweful but wanted 2 get that up asap using my d4 , sorry.

If you guys think there isnt a bad problem in the industry of gaming due to the lack of exposure well consider that the mainstream journalists and youtube kings livelyhood depends on the very entity it will expose so no it will never happen as that saying goes dont bite the hand that feeds.

We need an outside source to look into the state of the industry , what they have been doing , how it effects the consumer and how his or her rights are jeopardized. Ive taken a peek into what our rights truely are and holy crap its disturbing but what do i know im just some random idiot on the Internet but this random idiot is going to take this to another level rather than post on forums and i suggest you do to OR we can get to the point where weather effects , higher resolutions, online play, chosing characters name etc will come after launch via updates and then via paid dlc

@WARDIE

Sir they knew it would be a bad way to launch a system seller while essentially Forza would begin the boxing match with a 1st round knockdown and although i know that the devs did tweak certain stuff imo not to constitute a year delay. See from a marketing perspective you would want a game to release in a timeframe of max anticipation in this case racing genre and the timeframe they picked was perfect , right when forza h2 and before the crew so basically drawing force from their hypetrain to which is a clever and money effective way to let the desire to play a driving game on a system with lack of driving games while releasing at a time when people are talking most about driving games is a great recipe to help sell a driving game . Hope that makes sense

I still find it funny. Regardless, people aren't going to dump ps4 for xb1 just because forza 2 is good and driveclub is a bit of a giant mess. Let's just hope they sort it out soon, I can see though that this might be something they never fix properly, it took them an extra year to 'finish' off the game.

@Ginkgo Do you know what the projected sales figure was and what the figure actually is? I personally do not but until you do you cant rule anything out period. I do know that if my sales were halved in comparison to my projected well securing and maximizing sales would be a priority and although evolution isnt calling the shots at this juncture its a plan thats best suited for the suits at evolution due to evolution inevitable downsizing incoming hence tons of funds about to go up in smoke due to major damaged control.

This project seems like it was charted for disaster , no public beta to stress test servers in any event is the consumer accountable here? Lol because you instantly ignored the facts and trying to dismiss wrong doing immediately and thats pure consumer ignorance and denial which is why we get shafted every other release

"Evolution Studios: We're As Frustrated About DriveClub Issues As You Are"

Ah, what a shame, if I had messed up my day job this badly I would be sacked by now, just shows how little thought, care and preparation went in to this game. Least it will be £19.99 by Christmas now for the people who still give a hoot.

@WARDIE im also glad to see someone is aware that downloading psplus version using psn isnt going to be a factor to whether evolution "fixes servers" , as psn is a different infrastructure and is only the bridge to connect to servers of games that offer online play. Its funny how in reviews the weather was "breathtaking "and connection was " instant " but what isnt funny is how many use reviews when deciding to buy a product

@get2sammyb Evolution did not open beta stress test their servers, dynamic weather and photo mode is not included in my day 1 purchase of my physical copy of drive club, the print on box misleadingly reads that you can play other players on and offline. What ammount of false advert and not fully functional product constitutes wrong doing in your opinion ? Ive seen reprehensive actions taken for "box quotes" alone and im very sorry to spam here but this conversation needs to happen please embrace it and help expose what is happening in general in the industry before its too late >gaming crash>epic jobs lost> Mobile games dominate >digital 100 percent, 100 percent rights lost

@WARDIE also unfortunately many people are defending Evolution and "assaulting" anyone who cries foul, it will happen to you and I here as it grows later in the day

I guess I am the only person on the internet who doesn't care about the delay. The main issue is that these people are game developers not network administators. Maybe they hired the wrong people or thought they could handle it alone, maybe they didn't envision how much stress would be applied to the infrastructure. Either way it will get sorted and in a few days time I will be racing with my friends.

It's these issues that make me yearn for gaming of yesteryear. You know, when you bought a disc, took it home, played the game, had no issues...

I realise the Internet brings other benefits, but do they outweigh the negatives? I'm not convinced they do.

The entitlement issues of some folk in this comment section are cringe-worthy

@PixelPro Dude, do you like work for MS? You join the site 2 hours ago and then post 8 posts in the space of an hour. I'm not playing.

@MoleZandor accountability is often passed like a buck but heres and example of said process being demonstrated on a consumer level. If i hack your bank account is it my parents fault for poor upbringing or maybe my 3rd grade history teacher?If you took me to court Would the judge really factor any of that in being 32 year old adult? Well as consumers we are kinda judge and jury and if the majority feels as you do then no accountability and more important no change in terms of business practice .

they KNOW people are so anxious to get their hands on it they'll give in and buy the game.

Pixelprov1 is my psn but yes that was a very common fanboy rebuttal , i am a consumer and my loyalty is meaningless so i practice non biased opinions on actually events .

someone mentioned these comments cringe worthy well i suggest looking up what CoD lead had to say about their business practice and how the us military could benefit , then come back here and tell me if you still choose to use the word "cringe worthy" against your fellow consumer or if you stand firm with your choice of word as you "omg ooo ooo i cant wait for the next cod omg take my money and soul". Its cringe worthy to buy another CoD product after they pretty much said they brainwash "US" and then pounce. Its just as cringe worthy how many seem to live in a bubble and have zero care for how their actions or lack of directly or indirectly harms the entire community as a whole but anyways im done here btw thanks sammy for making the article to which im hoping will help get THE conversation started but i dont think so.
Archive and read my stuff in a year Or agree with your fav youtuber if and when they muster up the courage to expose but by then your cries will fall on deaf ears .

Keep encouraging and welcoming this practice and you will get bigger helpings for everyone . One cant deny consumers who paid for drive club got a mess of a game and since no pressure of accountability etc well why change the practice of day 1 messes and patches etc etc. Have fun paying for hd textures and resolutions ala consoles next year ! You are begging for it.

@Ginkgo btw i joined this site when i was using ps3 [BOSTONJOHN32] and im as loyal of sony as humanly possible but im not oblivious to my surroundings nor will i act as i am.

This is what happens when we put faith in the unknown, better place hopes on GT for a proper racing experience.

I've not been able to get online a single time yet even after 20+ hours of playing it so far... nothing. At least I'll be familiar with the game by the time I eventually get to face off with another human...

If i buy the ps plus upgrade will it still work without the ps plus edition.because on the ps store it says to play the upgrade you need the ps plus edition ??? Which obviously is not available and isnt likely tomorow on launch.very very miffed about this.can anyone answer me this please cus i dont wanna go n waste 35 quid on summat that wont work

@PixelPro I have subtly (or not so much) been saying the same thing on this site from time to time. Im with you 100%. People who continually excuse or defend these practices need to stop, step back and wake up.

Before i knew about the full game having massive server issues, i may have agreed with those who say its a ruse to get us to buy the full game first, or that its a growing problem with our rights as consumers being taken advantage of. all day tues i got more and more agrivated as we got nothing but silence, and i honestly expected to see the game pop up on psn around 2am so sony could say that it still met its ps+ release day. Then we finally got an update. And since then have been getting a steady stream of updates even if they are not ones we want to hear. Should they have had an open beta to test the servers especially considering millions of people get a full featured but track/car neutered version free? Yup. Did they lose a ton of money from impulse buyers who were going to buy the full game once they tried out the plus edition? I know of 8 myself, my cousins, and my raid team on destiny. Did the game need to be further delayed? Honestly? Yes. Sony was crazy thinking it would be done a year ago, and if given a january release date i dont think many would have been pissed.

Can anyone tell me if the driveclub ps plus upgarde will work without the ps plus edtion available tomorow HELP

@get2sammyb Its a farce.
Why not take all PS+ users and assume that is the minimum standard and number of players that are going to be online?
3 million PS+ subs equals 3 million users on DriveClub, not going to be exactly that but if its taken into account the servers could have coped better.
Then go up from there.

the screw up the only option they have now if they want to regain goodwill is to add some additional cars or tracks to the PS+ version as an apology

@PixelPro Not false advertising though.
I hear that junk all the time.
All the things they state on the box are true.
Server errors dont make it false advertising, just random unforseen events or in this case, poor project management.
You havent been mis-sold a product, they just cant cope with the ammount of traffic.

@Tasuki Maybe so, but it's still not acceptable to pay 35 quid and not have a product delivered as promised is all.
I ain't even mad, Shadow of Mordor and Sherlock Holmes are too epic to worry!

So what exactly have they been doing the last 11 months?

There is no reason this lauch should have failed at this level. Unfortunately for evolution my wallet is more frustrated than I am.
Gonna take a lot of convincing.

@THEundying27 http://media.giphy.com/media/8ND8F4Q6Mgzjq/giphy.gif

Absolutely mind blowing how stupid they are for screwing this launch. Oh well......

(Heads back to turn on the PS3).

It all is really piss poor. Surely they would have known there were network issues before delaying the October ps update specifically for Driveclub. Oh well in the meantime i think i'll log on to the other eu psn classic Counter Strike Global Offensive. Oh wait a minute.....

WHY ARE DEVELOPERS NOT LEARNING FROM PAST MISTAKES BY OTHERS!?!? Sorry for the caps - but there's a big reason all these games are starting to have open beta tests - to stress test the servers. It's plain as day what they needed to do and they failed. Now its a great game - just learn to stress test holy moses.

To be fair, it was the first PS plus game with proper multiplayer functions...

What a mess. Not like they had plenty of time to get their ducks in a row or anything.

@get2sammyb

Why not though? I see no reason for this game not to sell a couple mil at least given that outside of LBP 3 there isn't much in the way of PS4 exclusives this holiday and there really isn't much going on with racing. Feedback for The Crew has been negative, Project Cars looks great but lets face it, has absolutely zero hype behind it. People know about DriveClub at least and while it's not very good, it's not bad either (the release has been managed poorly but at least the game itself doesn't seem to be a complete train wreck). It will sell and Sony did let Evolution make a bunch of MotorStorm games. I can't wait for Gran Turismo 7 but that's quite a ways out, a DriveClub sequel that's much better than the first could provide some filler for people.

@WARDIE
Well considering that's exactly what the Xbox One is right now, and it's still lagging way behind, you probably don't have much to worry about. I'm hoping MS can start making a serious comeback in North America at least though because frankly Sony needs a fire lit under its a$$.

Well I have the Drive, but I'm just missing the Club part of the game. 3rd day now and still no server access, It's pretty amusing that the feature most behind the delayed launch, the menus, is looking pretty sad and redundant with most tiles missing information or greyed out. I do like the half of the game that works though; it looks great, has decent handling, good physics, fair AI, etc. Definitely worth $50 I'd say.

@electrolite77

Yup, you can tell the complacency has set in. The talking heads in suits can say otherwise at whatever press conferences they show up to I just go off what I see in the products and services they deliver, and the lack of response to issues that arise and all I'm seeing is a company that is way too damn comfortable. Also, while I love the reviews the writers here provide I'm sick of seeing in every article 'affable exec' this and likeable so and so and loveable this person... Please, stop it. These people are corporate tools, they don't give two sh*ts about the consumer and we shouldn't give two sh*ts about them.

I don't see this as Sony's problem; this is Evolution's problem. Yes, Sony own them, but you don't blame the record label when a singer releases a crap album.

I'm sure the high-up Sony execs will be on their backs about getting it sorted.

Personally, I'm a little relieved I can't get the game yet as my mum's in hospital, and I'd hate to have it sitting there and be unable to play.

@Gamer83 OK, so I hear about forza this and for a that, and to be honest I played a demo at GameStop. I HATED the Xbox one controller. However I freaking loved that game!!! I ain't sure what forza it was but it was on Xbox one.

Isn't drive club made by the creators of motorstorm?

@Alpha
It was probably Forza 5. And yeah, DriveClub is made by Evolution Studios, which also made MotorStorm.

@Gamer83 it looked amazing, but most of all, it played at felt amazing! And really? Is it like the first two motorstorm? I didn't care much for apacolpse

@Alpha

DriveClub is more like Project Gotham Racing from what I've heard. I can't really answer that question though because I haven't played the game yet. Once the Plus version is up I'll be able to find out.

@Gamer83 alright. Let me know when you can. I'd love to find out.

@Alpha

Sure.

"We're As Frustrated About DriveClub Issues As You Are"
Does that mean they are frustrated at the lack of a proper car list ?

@LDXD Your avatar is gold!

I understand its a very ambitious game, but they should have shifted way more focus into making the online component solid, instead of fidgeting so much with aligning the stars and real time moon phases. That's all cool, but starting a crew with buddies online is what the whole game is about, so when it doesn't work day one, you can expect lots of backlash.