DriveClub Delayed On PS4, Contrast Fills Spot On Plus Instant Game Collection

One of the PlayStation 4’s headlining launch titles, DriveClub, has been delayed. But fear not, would be speed demons, as we’re only looking at “early 2014” for the push back. Also, for those of you who were excited to grab the PlayStation Plus edition of the game at launch, that slot has now been taken over by shadowy platformer, Contrast.

Yesterday afternoon, rumors started buzzing around the internet that planned Evolution Studios PS4 launch title, DriveClub, would be taking a back seat until sometime next year. Sony and the developers remained tight-lipped throughout the day but, this morning, the publisher finally broke radio silence.

According to a statement from SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida, DriveClub has indeed been delayed until 2014, giving the team time to make some additional tweaks and fixes.

Coming so quickly on the heels of the Watch_Dogs delay from a week prior, the delay of DriveClub feels like a bit of salt in the ole’ wound. Then again, I’ll always take a longer wait in place of a borked launch, so even though it’s upsetting that DriveClub won’t be ready for the road on Nov. 15, at least we know that extra time is going to make the game as good as it can possibly be. And, as Yoshida said in the announcement, the Plus version of the game will still coincide with the launch of the game proper, whenever that may be.

“To be clear, DriveClub PlayStation Plus Edition will still be part of the Instant Game Collection when it is released,” Yoshida said. “For the PS4 launch, in addition to Resogun, I’m pleased to announce that Contrast, the highly anticipated game from Compulsion Games, will also be available to PlayStation Plus member for free as part of the Instant Game Collection.”

Yoshida goes on to state that Contrast will “whisk you away to a surreal vaudevillian, film-noir inspired reality full of performance, intrigue, shadow-lay and drama.” To further drive all of that home, here’s a reminder of what Contrast will look like in action.

Seems like a pretty decent trade-off to me, especially since I had an eye on Contrast in the first place. Still, it would have been nice to take the social-focused, interactive racer for a test drive shortly after booting the shiny new PS4 up on launch day.

“We understand the delay is disappointing news, but can assure you that the reason we have made this decision is to ensure that when DriveClub launches, it will realize the next-gen racing vision,” Yoshida concluded. “The extra time we’re giving the team means the visuals and overall experience are only going to get better. We can assure you that it will be worth the wait.”