Driveclub delayed to early 2014, Sony confirms

Sony has confirmed previous reports that Evolution Studios' racer Driveclub has been delayed.

"SCE Worldwide Studios and the team at Evolution Studios have made the difficult decision to delay the release of Driveclub and Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition until early 2014," wrote Sony worldwide studios president Shuhei Yoshida.

"Driveclub will be a truly innovative, socially connected racing game, but the team requires more time in order to deliver on their vision--and I’m fully confident the game will surpass your expectations."

A version of the game, which was due to be released alongside the PlayStation 4 on November 15, was also to be included as a free download for PlayStation Plus members. Instead, Sony will offer Contrast as an alternative, and confirmed that the PlayStation Plus edition of Driveclub will follow in 2014.

"This decision also affects PlayStation Plus members’ Instant Game Collection for launch. To be clear, Driveclub PlayStation Plus Edition will still be part of the Instant Game Collection when it is released. 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 members for free as part of Instant Game Collection," said Yoshida.

"We understand that 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."

"And PlayStation 4 gamers will have no shortage of titles to play this year. At launch alone, we have Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack, Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, FIFA 14, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, to name but a few, as well as the incredible list of Indie games coming to PS4."

"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."

Earlier this week Ubisoft confirmed that its highly-anticipated next-gen launch title Watch Dogs had also been delayed into 2014.