DriveClub’s game director has confirmed that the PlayStation 4-exclusive racer will allow players to unlock cars early by way of – you’ve guessed it – microtransactions
However, Paul Rustchynsky told IGN that developer Evolution Studios has acknowledged that the feature may seem controversial with some gamers, and as such attempted to quell any fears players may have.
"It’s been a hot topic of late inside gaming, and we’ve been very keen to take on board the feedback from gamers and make sure we don’t upset anyone," said Rustchynsky. "So, in Driveclub, what we’ve done is make sure that the progression system is really straightforward, really simple and gives you access to a lot of content really quickly.
"In Driveclub you earn Fame, and as you earn Fame, you level up. Every time you level up, we give you another car. There’s no double gating or anything along those lines, you’re given the car straight away without having to do anything else. The only thing we do have is a couple of shortcuts.
"If you want to unlock a car immediately, you can pay to unlock that car straight away but it’s not a consumable microtransaction. We don’t let people buy Fame, for example and spend lots and lots. The idea is if you want to shortcut things you can do – it’s identical to what we did in Motorstorm RC. So if you played that, you know what we’re doing here."
Elsewhere, he also announced that the game’s four locations outside of the previously-confirmed India will be Chile, Norway, United Kingdom and Canada. Each country boasts 11 tracks.
In terms of vehicles, Rustchynsky confirmed the appearance of the Volkswagon Golf GTI, Hennessey Venom GT and Pagnai Wira. That’s just a taste of the line-up though, as the full game will have over 50 cars.
DriveClub is scheduled for release in October 2014.