PSA: Sony is planning to take the ENTIRE Driveclub franchise off the Playstation Store on August 31st, server shutdown also planned for next year.

Schreckweg 5000 · Mar 30, 2019

1. Only played it at events, but I can tell online was a integral part of the vision. Sucks for the devs and those still playing.

2. I get pulling the plug when not many people play, but at the end of the day this is a first party and the generation hasn't even ended yet. Its bad optics.

Chirotera said:
Companies should be required to disclose the length of licensing agreements up front.

I think I like this idea.

Golvellius · Mar 30, 2019

modiz said:
I don't like this very much but I looked up some stuff,
MS also took forza horizon 2 off the store last September, and both of these games launched at roughly the same time. So It's not like only Sony does this.
Still, considering the fact people pay them a lot of money for PlayStation plus, I do expect some return Sony, and so far the value is going down, I hope they have something planned soon...

Nice try to obfuscate the real issue which is the shutdown of the multiplayer servers.

SixelAlexiS · Mar 30, 2019

The most fun, engaging, challenging, thrilling and beautiful racing game of the last 7 years... and is going to die like that.

What an incredible game, it didn't deserve any of that... I find myself lucky enough to had the chance of playing the hell out of it but still, since I never really liked the online section, I will not have the chance to complete all the "elite" challenges that you unlock by leveling up.

But still, please... PLAY this game if you like playing videogames... this isn't a sim, it isn't full arcade... it's just pure FUN!

p.s. I need to buy the VR version asap, I tried the demo and the driving was muuuuch more arcadey, but still really fun.

EvilBoris · Mar 30, 2019

Chirotera said:
Companies should be required to disclose the length of licensing agreements up front.

I agree. I think the Microsoft store does this when you purchase video content , it gives you a minimum date it will be available til

Dan Thunder · Mar 30, 2019

I've said it before but now that they've got the game working properly they should make it a PS5 title in 4K/60 FPS with high resolution textures. I think it'd be a great launch title for the system.

AkimbOb-omb · Mar 30, 2019

LinkStrikesBack said:
... Are you just ignoring that there are two parts to this announcement? The digital versions of all drive club products are gone from sale, likely forever, with driveclub vr being less than two years old at the time of sales ending.

The shitty thing here is pulling the plug on all online components of those games. That effects also people who have a retail copy or buy one in the future. Pulling it from the digital store is one thing, but IMO they better don't sell it if they're killinga huge part of the game in a year anyway. They should also remove it from store shelves at that point.

ShapeGSX said:
If PS5 is backwards compatible, will there be any PS4 games left to play?

This is ridiculous.

Sony: What was that? You wanted BC with PS5? What for? lol4theplayers

KillstealWolf · Mar 30, 2019

Ooph, not nice. Guess I'll have to pick up Driveclub VR Before it disappears for good.

gamstat · Mar 30, 2019

Driveclub +67,000 new players in February 2019 (that makes it in top-200)
Driveclub VR +8,900
Driveclub: Bikes +5,200

travisbickle · Mar 30, 2019

cyrribrae said:
Hmm. Maybe Sony should ask for some help from Microsoft, Google or Amazon in maintaining their servers sustainably and cheaply.

Aren't servers part of their business portfolios?

I assume Sony's got a "cost-cutting dept" that obviously views cutting rented-servers as an easy cost-saving measure, but as Google, MS, Amazon own their own it's not an efficient way to save money.

Rosebud · Mar 30, 2019

AkimbOb-omb said:
Sony is so full of shit. Is this how you treat one of the few new IP's you grace your audience with during this gen?
Gravity Rush 2 going offline as soon as it did was bad enough but this is borderline criminal. You can still buy this game at retail and it's worth nothing in an offline state.

What do you mean? Gravity Rush 2 is a singleplayer game

Arthands · Mar 30, 2019

SteffK said:
Interesting to see who will defend a first-party company, backed by both hardware and services revenues, in addition to its own games, shutting down online functions on their games faster than either their direct competitors or even 3rd parties who are somehow able to deliver longer term support than the platform holder themselves.

EDIT:

Case in point, someone who has decided for everyone else that games must be disposable and you simply must move on to the next one ASAP. How about you tell us what Driveclub's player numbers are, and what the cut-off should be for a suite of basic functions of a game to be removed?

You do know Playstation is a closed platform right? And that Sony curate the platform and they have the say which game you are allowed to buy? We buy into Playstation ecosystem because we trust Sony to make the best decision for us.

Driveclub's active base must be rather insiginificant by now, because why else will Sony shut them down?

Deleted member 50969 · Mar 30, 2019

I can see it making sense for Driveclub main but not VR, as the VR version came out much later than the main version. Plus, comparing the de-listing of a whole franchise to a game in a series is a bit weird? The notions about a bigger userbase is really don't make a difference theses day unless the audience actively like the game or series.

Rosebud said:
What do you mean? Gravity Rush 2 is a singleplayer game

With online connectivity that was shutdown after 1 year and 7 months from release.

Rosebud · Mar 30, 2019

captainskylion said:
With online connectivity that was shutdown after 1 year and 7 months from release.

Yes, but it's not worthless without it, it's still the complete game

Soap · Mar 30, 2019

The way Sony handles servers for its games is a shambles. I appreciate Sony may not see a future for this franchise, but unlike last gen people are paying for plus in the expectation they'd receive a better service.

Abdulrahman · Mar 30, 2019

Sony is mindbogglingly notorious when it comes to online support. What is the point of PS+???

You can go play Gears of War multiplayer on the 360... the game is almost 13 years old.

Shopolic · Mar 30, 2019

Poor Evolution...
DriveClub had it's flaws, but it was a great racing and didn't deserve this. First closing the studio and now this. :(

Deleted member 7948 · Mar 30, 2019

Yautja_Warrior said:
MS keeps them on longer but if not many people are playing, does it really matter that much ? It still has a shit ton of single player content, so it's not like the game is suddenly useless. Sure it sucks for the few people that might still play online but from a business point of view.

I haven't played the game online once, but I'll lose access to these five cars because they aren't available if you can't connect to the servers:

Golf GTi (Hot Hatch)
Bentley Continental (Sports)
BMW M3 GTS (Performance)
Bac Mono (Super)
Pagani Zonda R (Hyper)

bane833 · Mar 30, 2019

Not surprised. Driveclub should never have been greenlit in the first place. They should have made another Motorstorm instead.

TheRulingRing · Mar 30, 2019

joe_zazen said:
It was my number one most played sony game, and i loved it. It was not trash and it played fantastic. Sure there were online issues caused by too much ambition and too small a budget, but that did not make the base game a disaster, like at all.

Well, that's great for you, but the reception to the game by most people on its launch was awful. Like I said, it was an embarrassment for Sony that this game that was so delayed was still so poorly reviewed.

Ingueferroque said:
This post just seems like a continuation of the old forum, shitting on DC was a meme.
Yes, they had a crap launch and the servers were down. But the racing was solid, single player always worked, and they added tremendous value/content to the game post-launch.

Again, I don't see how this "but post-launch support" cry exonerates Evo at all. They had to fix their disaster to salvage some respect.

And again, I don't know why all this credit should be given to Evo for that when it was Sony that gave them all the time and funds to help recover the game, even after Evo failed so badly.

AkimbOb-omb · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
Yes, but it's not worthless without it, it's still the complete game

?

cyba89 · Mar 30, 2019

I see all that PS+ money is put to good use.

Sony is just ridiculous with these server shutdowns. At this point I expect them to shut down GT Sport servers before a sequel is out.

Jonneh · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
Yes, but it's not worthless without it, it's still the complete game

Still a playable game - it's not longer the complete package

HighFive · Mar 30, 2019

Havent got threw the entire thread, does that mean if we bought it digitally we wont be able to redownload it, like P.T?

Rosebud · Mar 30, 2019

AkimbOb-omb said:
?

Jonneh said:
Still a playable game - it's not longer the complete package

Yes, that's what I meant. The campaign is still there

Yautja_Warrior · Mar 30, 2019

Mohasus said:
I haven't played the game online once, but I'll lose access to these five cars because they aren't available if you can't connect to the servers:

Golf GTi (Hot Hatch)
Bentley Continental (Sports)
BMW M3 GTS (Performance)
Bac Mono (Super)
Pagani Zonda R (Hyper)

You would hope in these cases, they would make them free downloads before they turn off the servers but no guarantee they would sadly.

jesu · Mar 30, 2019

modiz said:
I don't like this very much but I looked up some stuff,
MS also took forza horizon 2 off the store last September, and both of these games launched at roughly the same time. So It's not like only Sony does this.
Still, considering the fact people pay them a lot of money for PlayStation plus, I do expect some return Sony, and so far the value is going down, I hope they have something planned soon...

Forget about Forza Horizon 2 here is a working online lobby for Forza Horizon 1 taken 5 minutes ago

https://xboxdvr.com/gamer/sir-funkified/screenshot/11858250

Rosebud · Mar 30, 2019

HF2014 said:
Havent got threw the entire thread, does that mean if we bought it digitally we wont be able to redownload it, like P.T?

You won't be able to buy it, but you can redownload

Assenzio · Mar 30, 2019

modiz said:
I don't like this very much but I looked up some stuff,
MS also took forza horizon 2 off the store last September, and both of these games launched at roughly the same time. So It's not like only Sony does this.
Still, considering the fact people pay them a lot of money for PlayStation plus, I do expect some return Sony, and so far the value is going down, I hope they have something planned soon...

What you are not getting is that Sony is shutting the servers.

Forza is still running

SixelAlexiS · Mar 30, 2019

Already posted?

Driveclub is the Most-Played PS4 Driving Title with Estimated 10.5 Million Players

Yeah, there was a Plus version but still a really great achievement... :'(

Rat King · Mar 30, 2019

Real cool the all digital future. Can't wait...

AkimbOb-omb · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
Yes, that's what I meant. The campaign is still there

What are you arguing about here? Yes the game is asset complete, you could say the same about DC in an offline state. But they are taking away features that were part of the product. No one is saying that those games are worthless when played offline, but they're lacking features. And you should expect from Sony to support their 1st party content for more then 1-3 years...

HighFive · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
You won't be able to buy it, but you can redownload

Oh. Ok, that better. Thanks. At least we keep our digital owning rights.

IIFloodyII · Mar 30, 2019

Just sad, Evo deserved better.

Cthulhu_Steev · Mar 30, 2019

modiz said:
I don't like this very much but I looked up some stuff,
MS also took forza horizon 2 off the store last September, and both of these games launched at roughly the same time. So It's not like only Sony does this.
Still, considering the fact people pay them a lot of money for PlayStation plus, I do expect some return Sony, and so far the value is going down, I hope they have something planned soon...

You can still play online with FH2 though

Deleted member 50969 · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
Yes, but it's not worthless without it, it's still the complete game

If a company shuts down online servers that quick, how can they be trusted if they make multi-player games in the near future?

Shaneus · Mar 30, 2019

Fuck, one of the things I still love about this is the vs. timings that appear and the challenges. This also means that some content will be unavailable for new games too, because I know there's at least one car that only unlocks when you join a club.

Seriously, it can't be that hard to keep a service that manages such little amounts of data up like the Driveclub one. This frustrates me greatly :/

The Spoony Hou · Mar 30, 2019

Typical Sony.

killer7 · Mar 30, 2019

Krvavi Abadas said:
Just added to Sony's server page.

Yes, even the VR game that's nearing it's 3rd birthday.
I'm pretty sure this is a first, considering they usually leave the digital versions up if the game is still playable offline.

Like i said in past, when video games will be "only streaming" = nightmare.

DrDeckard · Mar 30, 2019

Do we know why it's only really Sony that does this?

Shaneus · Mar 30, 2019

Overflow said:
This. Considering the value of PS+ got slashes by like 60% recently, and now their own first party games won't be supported for more than a couple years, I'm real questioning what I'm paying for here.

You and me both, brother. Just wait until they bring online shit down for something like Wipeout.

I don't play my PS4 much as it is, but the PS+ stuff has severely dropped right off. If I didn't have 6+ months left on my yearly sub (screw you auto-renewal :/) I wouldn't be inclined to check it out at all.

Yautja_Warrior · Mar 30, 2019

IIFloodyII said:
Just sad, Evo deserved better.

In more ways than one too, as the excellent and very fun OnRush deserved much better too. Rushy and his team couldn't catch a break, damn shame how it ended for them.

ghostcrew · Mar 30, 2019

A few people have said this already but moves like this really do weaken the appeal of PS5 backwards compatibility. Obviously Sony have a heap of industry leading single player titles but being able to play all of your PS4 games next gen but with online components stripped out of them (like the challenges/leaderboards/clubs stuff in Driveclub, not to mention the online play) just makes some of them barely worth it.

Bgamer90 · Mar 30, 2019

It's mind blowing how bad the PlayStation 4 has been for racing games in comparison to its predecessors.

Curufinwe · Mar 30, 2019

Ganado said:
Huh, did no one play this either, like Gravity Rush 2?

You just have to bring up Microsoft, huh. Also they don't shut down Forza servers, you can still play all of them online with retail copies or previously purchased digital copies.

I got Forza 2 from GWG but then didn't play it right away. When I started playing it this year I couldn't purchase any of the DLC, not even the $3 treasure map that I really wanted. I would rather be able to buy single player content than play online.

LinkStrikesBack · Mar 30, 2019

Rosebud said:
Yes, but it's not worthless without it, it's still the complete game

There's an entire minigame gone where players hid items for others to find in the world, which made a number of costumes entirely impossible to obtain, and removed all the online high scores for all the challenges, plus all the ghosts in the overworld.

You can play through GR2 to the story credits, but to say it's still the complete game is utterly untrue.

Klobrille · Mar 30, 2019

ThisIsBlitz21 said:
WTF!

YOU CAN STILL PLAY FORZA 2 and BURNOUT PARADISE ORIGINAL ONLINE, TWO GAMES FROM 2007.

JUST WHY?

Because Xbox Live is built with scalability in mind. You can still play Joyride on the Xbox 360 (and via BC) online - even if literally just 10 people are playing this game weekly.

Sony's network infrastructure somehow doesn't seem to allow this kind of scalability, which is kinda ridiculous really.

Dan Thunder said:
I've said it before but now that they've got the game working properly they should make it a PS5 title in 4K/60 FPS with high resolution textures. I think it'd be a great launch title for the system.

I'd love this! Sadly they killed the studio.

Jonneh · Mar 30, 2019

It's worrying. PSN isn't cheap, £49.99 a year is a pretty high hurdle - especially when Xbox Live is £10 less and arguably offers more (broader crossplay being one). So why are they continuing to close down servers with such a high online revenue stream? There were 90m active PSN users as of January. I get closing servers in the next console generation when you basically have zero activity but it's a harsh trend for online Sony games. Gravity Rush 2 didn't even last 2 years, MAG lasted 4 years, Driveclub lasts 5.

The Vathlonian · Mar 30, 2019

Man, who did they piss off? Drive Club is great.

oni-link · Mar 30, 2019

It's gonna be a blast when we have Stadia games doing this kind of thing

Deleted member 13707 · Mar 30, 2019

The online servers of Driveclub have been, for the most part, a ghost town in 2019. Honestly, it's been pure dark arts for the game to last this long without plugs being pulled since their studio no longer exists.

It's a pity that Gran Turismo Sport takes priority for Sony, because I've played and enjoyed Driveclub so much longer than GT Sport.

PSA: Sony is planning to take the ENTIRE Driveclub franchise off the Playstation Store on August 31st, server shutdown also planned for next year.

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