Sony has announced that its first-party racing game Driveclub will be pulled from sale on the PlayStation Store on August 31, 2019. Not only Driveclub is getting delisted, though. Both Driveclub Bikes and Driveclub VR are being pulled as well. On top of that, all servers will go offline next year on March 31, 2020.
Those who own the games or purchase them before they get removed will still be able to play offline modes, but with Driveclub being such a social game, some gameplay functionality will be affected by the servers shutting down. Players obviously won’t be able to participate in online races, but they also won’t be able to create events, compete in challenges, or even see leaderboards. Luckily, the core game will still work offline, and all DLC will remain usable. Trophies will still be available, but the game has five online trophies, so the platinum trophy won’t be obtainable after the servers shut down next spring. Looks like all you trophy hunters have some work to do.
Originally intended to be a launch title for the PlayStation 4, Driveclub didn’t see store shelves until almost a full year after the system launched. Even then, the launch period was plagued with server issues and bugs that persisted weeks after the game’s initial release. Unfortunately, Evolution Studios, the team behind the game, saw huge layoffs in 2015 before ultimately being shut down in 2016. They were then acquired by Codemasters, the team responsible for Dirt and F1, and went on to create ONRUSH.
Driveclub received a bevy of post-launch updates and fixes that transformed the game into a truly great arcade racer, and the VR version is one of the landmark titles for PlayStation VR. It’s unfortunate that the game was never quite able to shake the reputation it acquired after its rocky launch.