Positioned as a PlayStation 4 launch title, DriveClub represents Evolution Studios' next racing title to depart from the arcade controls of the MotorStorm franchise. In their latest DriveClub video, the developers sat down to discuss their social goals with DriveClub and what kind of features the game will focus on.
DriveClub will move away from buggies and trucks of MotorStorm to instead provide cars that primarily drive on asphalt and smoother surfaces. Yet DriveClub won't entirely abandon its arcade racing roots for a simulation experience.
Game Director, Cole Rodgers, said that DriveClub " isn't a hardcore racer, it's not a simulation in anyway shape or form. It's about having fun in cars on fast roads."
The partial adoption of a racing simulation should not scare the more involved fan away; Evolution Studios hopes the social features in DriveClub will entice the community to create competition.
"We have taken everything that we've seen from the massive rise of social networks and really that's become a core pillar of what PlayStation 4 is all about." To explain how DriveClub will benefit Rodgers then added, "DriveClub really works on that level better than anything else you have ever played."
Each track in the game and all of its turns, straightaways and different surface types will hold some sort of data. Using this data you can create challenges to send to your friends similar to the Autolog feature in the Need for Speed franchise.
You can send larger challenges such as lap times or smaller challenges such as a drift around a certain bend in the road. Using the PS4's capabilities, you can then send them bundled to friends who can, if they choose to, send that same challenge to their friends. If your challenges keep circulating, they can even go viral within the DriveClub community.
Expect to see more about DriveClub next week during Sony's E3 press conference.