Developing for next-gen consoles is tough. That’s presumably reasons why Ubisoft decided to delay Watch Dogs into next Spring. It also could be why Sony is making the difficult decision to delay considered one of its much hyped launch titles.

Shuhei Yoshida, President, SCE Worldwide Studios, took to the PlayStation Blog today to announce that Evolution Studios’ DriveClub was delayed until early 2014. He doesn’t offer much of a reason for the delay, only that “the team requires more time as a way to deliver on their vision.”

Wait a minute – wasn’t DriveClub purported to be available for gratis at launch for PlayStation Plus members? It was indeed, and the free version of the sport will still be available to Plus members when the sport launches early next year. For now, Sony could be offering Contrast free of charge alongside Resogun as component of PlayStation Plus’ launch at the PS4.

So, what’s this Contrast game that’s replacing DriveClub? It’s a puzzle-platformer from Compulsion Games that puts the players inside the shoes of a detective named Dawn. She will move freely within the world in 3D, but could also become a silhouette within the background. Upon doing so, the sport transitions right into a 2D platformer where the player uses shadows as platforms.

Here’s a trailer:

As an added bonus to make up for the DriveClub delay, Sony may be offering all PlayStation Plus members full access to Killzone: Shadow Fall’s multiplayer on December 28-29.

While game delays are always disappointing, it’s to be expected round the launch of a brand new console. The simplest unusual thing concerning the DriveClub and Watch Dogs delay is barely how close they were to launch. Delays are frequently announced months beforehand – not weeks. Still, we will be able to only hope that these are the simplest delays we’ll see as we move in the direction of the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One.

[Image: PlayStation/YouTube]