DriveClub issues couldn’t be anticipated

Sony Computer Entertainment America president, Shawn Layden, has said there was no way the publisher could have anticipated the problems DriveClub experienced on release.

Since its launch nearly two months ago, DriveClub has been riddled with issues and Evolution Studios has been scrambling to get the game stable.

It’s been nearly a month since Sony’s Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida publicly apologised for the flawed release and promised “additional engineering resources” were being deployed to help sort out the issues. In his announcement he also said that the free, limited version of the game that was going to be gifted to PS Plus members, was also on hold “until further notice” because he didn’t want to taint anyone’s experience of the game and couldn’t guarantee “the best online experience”.

In an interview with IGN, Layden said that the studio couldn’t have tested the game before release because it was the online functionality which was flawed, and the only way to know was to release it.

"In the development cycle, we try to test against every possibility. We have a [Quality Assurance] team, we have a QA plan. You do a beta test, you scope against that."

"But now, in a connected world, you can't effectively test in your house or in your beta group what it means to have 50,000, 100,000, 200,000 users hit your service.

"And the guys [at the studio] are struggling with that. It's throwing up things they had not anticipated."

Despite these issues, Layden is still confident the game will be fixed and will come to those who are waiting, despite still not having a time frame.  He also believes that it's better to take a chance than not take one at all, "I prefer people to have the ambition to try that, though. It's no fun being safe all the time."

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