UPDATE: In response to Ryan's comments, Sony has told VideoGamer.com that it is "continually working" on improving DriveClub's servers to launch the PS Plus Edition "as quickly as possible".

"Although currently we do not have an update regarding the timing for the launch of the PS Plus Edition, we are continually working on improving the server capacity to enable us to launch the PS Plus Edition as quickly as possible."

ORIGINAL STORY: Sony can't guarantee DriveClub: PS Plus Edition will ever release, according to comments made by SCEE president Jim Ryan in an interview with UK newspaper Metro.

"That's still being looked at," Ryan said when asked by the paper whether there was still going to be a free PS Plus Edition. But when pushed on whether he could guarantee a release, Ryan replied: "I can't say anything at this stage."

DriveClub: PS Plus Edition had originally been due to release alongside the full game in October but was delayed indefinitely following the game's significant launch problems.

Speaking shortly after the game's release, Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida said that Sony was "postponing the release of the PS Plus Edition until further notice," and until it could "ensure that everyone can enjoy the full social connected online experience".

DriveClub's "painful" launch has led to a knock-on effect in the way Sony handles its first-party titles, Ryan adds.

"We have two roles to play, right?. We are a publisher of content in our own right and we are the platform holder who overlays a level of what is called format QA. Obviously the lessons that we learnt in the context of Driveclub were many and painful, and will be applied internally in the context of every first party title that we publish going forward."

Earlier this month, developer Evolution admitted that while it was "getting there... there's still a lot of server development needed to support the PS+ Edition."

Source: metro.co.uk