It’s the End of the Road for Driveclub

Driveclub is known for a few reasons. First, it was among the first batch of Playstation 4 titles announced all the way back in 2013 when Sony first revealed the console. Second, it had a bit of a disastrous launch in 2014 when, after being delayed multiple times, it had critical server issues for weeks after release that kept players from accessing most of it’s features. Finally, Driveclub was the last full game created by it’s developer, Evolution Studios, whose work included the World Rally Championship and Motorstorm franchises.

So it really came as no surprise when, on April 1 of last year, Sony announced it’s intention to turn off Driveclub‘s servers for good. The sunsetting of the server’s means that the game is still playable, albeit in a limited form. From the onset, a big appeal of Driveclub was it’s social integration; that is, the ability to form clubs of likeminded car enthusiasts and grow together as you play the game. You could unlock cars and paint jobs, set challenges, and race other players all together as a club, with everyone’s progress working together.

The game and all of it’s DLC (season pass, Bikes expansion, and standalone Driveclub VR) were removed from the Playstation Store at the end of August of last year, with the servers scheduled to go down permanently as of March 31, 2020. Yet for weeks now players have been reporting connection issues, being unable to connect to the servers and having issues downloading challenges, updating stats, and seeing leaderboard times. Even though the servers are still live for another month, the experience is very hit and miss for the people still playing.

So it goes that one of the PS4’s heavy hitters – a stunning racer revealed alongside the system itself – goes out with a whimper. Soon all that will be left are a few unattainable trophies and memories.

Driveclub is the latest game’s servers to be shuttered by Sony. To see a list of all decommissioned titles, visit the Playstation website here.