This game can drive you mad

Drive Club, the much talked about PlayStation 4 racing simulator launched last week and immediately got stuck in a quagmire of troublesome issues. Hyped as the Forza killer by many, the game has received mainly lukewarm reviews due to its repetitive and one dimensional feel. Since the launch, Drive Club has been plagued with crippling server issues that have rendered the online multiplayer mode multi player useless. 

 

Seeing as how Drive Club is a competitive racing simulator with a  heavy ‘social’ component, not having a working multiplayer mode takes away a lion’s share of the gameplay. Naturally this has led to widespread outrage in the PlayStation community, as users now have to pay for PlayStation Plus in order to play online. Moreover, the free version of the game that was promised to PS Plus subscribers has been indefinitely postponed till the server issue is fixed.

 

So why did this happen? Sony servers just weren’t capable of handling such a large load. With the launch of PS4, Sony servers now have to accommodate social media integration, along with the demands of the game itself. And it seems that Sony underestimated the traffic they would cause, resulting in this debacle.

 

But, even after restricting online play behind a pay wall, Sony has failed to address their long running server situation for PSN. First Party games should not have to face such debilitating server issues from the very get go. It is the opinion of many, that Sony needs to fix the gaming experience on their servers post haste, before moving on to getting better social media integration. A justified demand, seeing as how Sony marketed the PS4 as being a console for gamers, by gamers.