While Driveclub is finally stable and performing well months after launch, the PlayStation Plus Edition of the game, one that will allow PS Plus subscribers play the game for free, is still no where in sight. With a recent announcement by Evolution Studios, that may be changing soon.

In a post on Facebook, Evolution Studios has confirmed that update 1.16 is in the process of rolling out to the game alongside a significant server upgrade. Specifically, the servers that power the Driveclub Challenge system is getting completely overhauled with this upgrade, allowing for bigger challenges and increased stability and performance. This news also prepares the game for added player load once the free PlayStation Plus edition launches.

While this is great news for current players and fans awaiting the long promised PlayStation Plus version of the game, current Driveclub owners should be aware that this upgrade will affect challenges that are in progress. Players are urged to create and complete challenges before 10am BST on Monday June 1 (2am PDT, 5am EDT, 7pm AEST) as any challenges in progress will not move to the new servers.

Here are the full details for update 1.16 for Driveclub:

Challenges will be expanded to support an unlimited number of participants. Challenge notifications will be integrated into the Social Hub activity feed for easy access. The Challenge Menu will have a new interface to make it easier to join Challenges. Evolution Studios Challenges will be added to the Challenge Menu for direct and easy access. Invitation options will be optimized to focus on active players and reduce challenge notification spam. More of Evolutions favorite ‪#‎PS4share‬ pictures created by the community will be added to the Menus. Significant technical improvements will be made to enhance server connectivity and prepare for the PlayStation Plus Edition.

For a while, it seemed unlike that the PlayStation Plus edition of DriveClubwould ever release. Driveclub is a game that is extremely online focused, pitting players against each other through in game challenges or allowing them to race together in groups called clubs, and therefore if the game struggled to handle paid player load one could only imagine what would happen if thousands of PS Plus members flooded in. With months continuing to pass as the developer focused solely on fixing the core experience, many figured Sony simply decided to cancel the Driveclub PS Plus Edition.

Adding to that speculation was the recent layoffs that unfortunately hit Evolution Studios. While the reason for the layoffs was never publicly released by Sony, fans took this as a bad sign even after Sony reaffirmed that the PS Plus version of Driveclub was still on the way. It’s unclear if fans will ever receive a solid reason for the length of this delay, but what is becoming clearer is that the issue was something much deeper than just the server load.

Even though it’s taken this long, are you planning on checking out the PS Plus version of Driveclub or is it too little, too late?

Source: Evolution Studios Facebook