Driveclub's Hardcore Mode Aims to Make Things Much More Difficult

Among the features coming in Driveclub's February update is a Hardcore difficulty option, director Paul Rustchynsky has revealed.

Following a recent tease that the update will be a big one, Rustchynsky announced the first of its features. Hardcore strips away many of the support tools that make staying in control easier--namely, traction control and stability control. Other assists are also turned off when playing on Hardcore, ensuring you'll have to be extremely mindful to stay on the track.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to customize the experience by, say, disabling only traction control. Responding to a fan's question, Rustchynsky said these changes are all bundled into one option called Hardcore Handling.

Even with Hardcore enabled, you'll still be competing on the existing leaderboards, at least for now. Rustchynsky said on Twitter, "No new leaderboards in this update," which could be interpreted as suggesting a future update could introduce new ones, but that's merely speculation at this point.

More details on Driveclub's February update are expected over the next few weeks. Despite a rough launch, developer Evolution Studios has been consistently delivering new content and features to the game through a mix of free and paid DLC and updates over the past year-plus.