We review the history of the game from Evolution Studios, a title punctuated by delays, problems and the abrupt closure of the English studio.
A solemn statement from Sony Computer Entertainment announced on March 30, 2019 the farewell to DriveClub for PS4. Both the original Evolution Studios video game and DriveClub Bikes and DriveClub VR were to be removed from their digital sale on the PS Store on August 31; while on March 31, 2020 their servers will be closed. That time has come.
"Another one", we could say. Another one that falls from the list of video games with expiration date of the present generation. Gravity Rush 2 was just a warning, but not the only one. On Xbox One we have also recently had to say goodbye to Forza Horizon 2, whose DLC are no longer accessible for purchase in any way, only if we bought them in their day.
That being the case, the realistic arcade driving title that became one of Sony's main arguments for selling PlayStation 4 in its early years leaves through the back door, with no possibility of playing online again, creating events or sharing statistics. : the competition is over.
A very complicated development
It seems unbelievable, but it is far from that month of February 2013 when DriveClub was announced, when not even works like The Last of Us were part of the catalog of a PlayStation 3, which was packing. "The creators of MotorStorm announce DriveClub," was a striking headline, especially for the technical muscle that aimed to deliver the title in both stage and vehicle recreation.
But after those videos and possible release dates, the delays were announced on a regular basis. Despite the fact that the specialized press was able to test the video game in the technical demonstrations of PlayStation 4, which was going to be launched that November throughout the world, something was wrong. Simultaneous launch with the console was fading, and the first quarter also seemed very complex.
2014 arrived and in April a specific date was set, October 8, for in the future also have a specific edition for PS Plus (with 10 cars and 5 tracks). For the Japanese company, that was the great incentive to subscribe to the service, one of its great video games was to be part of the membership service, from now on mandatory to play online. Everything painted. It would not be until September when it would reach the gold phase, that is, that development had ended. For its part, DriveClub Plus Edition was a promise for the October rewards on PS Plus.
With everything ready, Driveclub application launched for Android devices and a PS4 pack with the game for 439.99 euros, that October 8 left us with bad news: the PS Plus version was provisionally delayed to solve “some problems connection, ”said game director Paul Rustchynsky. The infrastructure was not working properly and it was essentially impossible to play online in this version.
Already in June 2015 the long-awaited launch would take place: Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition. What no one surely expected is the statement from Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Worldwide Studios, who acknowledged that “We are ashamed and very sorry for what happened with the launch of the game on PS4. Essentially, the servers couldn't cope with the number of people trying to access them. The stress tests were not designed properly. " So much so that "the team had to go back to the beginning and redo the code for the servers to support more people simultaneously." That is, it was remade from scratch.
But the evolution of the game did not stop. In those first two years, DriveClub received the expected weather changes like rain, private multiplayer rooms, more customization and interface options were created as well as new vehicles, circuits and a tire wear system. At the end of 2015 and throughout 2016, DriveClub was actually another video game. If we add DirveClub Bikes, the paid expansion that included motorcycles with their own competitions and events, the title already felt like a product with a lot of packaging.
A dying year: twelve months of restructuring
The information was being cooked days before by Anglo-Saxon media such as Eurogamer, who anticipated the dismissal of no less than 55 members of the Evolution Studios team, a full-blown dismantling that came to carry out that restructuring already announced a year earlier, in 2015 .
DriveClub Bikes
Sony reported it initially as if it were a coin with heads and tails: Evolution Studios was restructured, but it would serve to focus on the much-promised version of PS Plus: “Evolution Studios will now focus on DriveClub as a service for the future and in the important launch of the PS Plus Edition. We will restructure Evolution Studios to ensure that SCE WWS and, above all, Evolution Studios are in the best position to achieve our goals. ”
But the day came. Some saw it coming, but the impact was equally superlative: Evolution Studios kicked off. That month of March 2016 was a tragic month for the industry, as several dominoes fell one after the other. First it was Lionhead Studios (which was developing Fable Legends), then Two Tribes (Rive) and finally 5th Cell (Scribblenauts). Although there was one more left.
Sony then published a statement where they took stock of their economic results and made their corresponding periodic review, which placed SCE Worldwide Studios in the position to close this subsidiary based in Runcorn (Cheshire).
DriveClub VR
"As part of this process we have analyzed and evaluated all current projects and plans in the short and medium term and we have decided to make some changes in the structure of our European studies. As a result, it has been decided to close Evolution Studios. ” And it closed, with its layoffs included. A decade of very close relationship that materialized in works such as MotorStorm or World Rally Championship.
And now that? "Thank you for your support, thank you for your commitment"
That was the question we all asked ourselves. The closure of Evolution left DriveClub in an uncertain situation. It was not Sony that clarified that status, something that annoyed the active community of the work, which at that time was practically another game compared to the one that was released in 2014. Jamie Brayshaw, community manager of the English studio, issued a statement as parting. A statement that did not speak only for him, but for everyone, also for the community, which appears cited on more than one occasion; after all, it was they who prevented DriveClub's death from happening much earlier.
It’s the end of an incredible era for #EvolutionStudios. Thanks to all of you: https://t.co/YYPJNvbMxd #DRIVECLUB pic.twitter.com/ERQiQ48SGR
– Jamie Brayshaw (@PhenomEvolution) March 22, 2016
“DriveClub will continue to live with the care and support of the great PlayStation team, we hope it continues to thrive in your hands and with the continued support of all of you players. Our community ”.
But on July 4, 2017 the latest DriveClub content update was released, the unofficial farewell that is now official.
"Thanks for your support, thanks for your commitment," they said on the occasion of that patch. Once again, the debate over whether responsible work is being done with video game preservation is there; if the video game is truly being treated as a cultural product or as a service with date of birth and death.
Your original disc is as of now the only way to play DriveClub. The expansions, DLC and other downloadable content, if we do not download them in their day are so many things of mere memory.
