The long, oft arduous, tale of Driveclub is nearing the end of its life. Announced by Sony over the weekend, the game is set to be decommissioned over the course of the coming year. This will impacts all forms of the game including the base version of Driveclub, Driveclub VR, and Driveclub Bikes.
All versions of the game are set to be delisted from the PlayStation Store later this year on August 31. The servers for the game, on the other hand, won’t officially go offline until March 31, 2020. In the announcement, Sony stated, “All online features (including online multiplayer modes) will cease on that date.”
Aside from multiplayer, other features that will be impacted by the servers shutting down include the use of the season pass online, representing Clubs online in multiplayer events and tours, competing in challenges, creating events, competing in leader boards, and sharing stats and player progress. Features that will still be available to players include the use of the season pass for all single player and offline modes, the ability to play all versions of the game and DLC single player functionality in offline mode, and the ability to earn trophies in single player and offline modes.
The story of Driveclub is one of ill fate. The game was originally announced at the PlayStation 4 reveal event back in February of 2013, and was set to be launch title for the console. However, the game would suffer from multiple delays and wouldn’t release until almost a year after the console launched. However, upon release, the game suffered from major issues. Due to these issues, the free PlayStation Plus version of the game was delayed until June 2015. Luckily, in spite of the issues and delays, developers, Evolution Studios, were able to turn it around and establish following for the game. Unfortunately, it was too little too late as Sony shuttered the studio in March of 2016.