Sony has announced that they are no longer planning to launch Driveclub alongside the PlayStation 4 next month, but will instead release both the game and the free PlayStation Plus version in “early 2014.”
Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed the recent rumor of Driveclub‘s delay in a post on the PlayStation Blog this morning, saying in part:
“SCE Worldwide Studios and the team at Evolution Studios have made the difficult decision to delay the release of Driveclub and [the] PlayStation Plus Edition until early 2014. Driveclub will be a truly innovative, socially connected racing game, but the team requires more time in order to deliver on their vision — and I’m fully confident the game will surpass your expectations.”
The delay causes a bit of a problem with Sony’s E3 promise to give PlayStation Plus members a free version of the game when the PlayStation 4 launches on November 15th. To help smooth things over with subscribers, Yoshida restated that the Plus edition of Driveclub will be part of the Instant Game Collection when the game is released next year. Additionally, Compulsion Games’ Contrast will join Resogun as part of the PS4 IGC library, and members will get an exclusive “Open Weekend” trial of Killzone: Shadow Fall‘s multiplayer mode on December 28th-29th.
Yoshida did not reveal the exact reason for Driveclub‘s late start, but did note that the extra time will translate into a better “overall experience.”