Gran Turismo 7
Franchises like Forza and Need for Speed generate a good amount of hype with new game announcements. But there’s no denying the hype around Gran Turismo. Though Gran Turismo Sport launched in 2017, the last numbered entry was Gran Turismo 6 in 2013. To say that there was a ton of hype for Gran Turismo 7 would be an understatement.
There was also plenty to be hyped about. GT Simulation Mode was returning along with dynamic time and weather effects, Driving School, GT Auto, and more. New features like Menu Books promised fun ways to unlock cars while learning about the history of different manufacturers. Even after the delay, Gran Turismo 7 was showered with praise upon release for its gameplay, visuals, sound design, and presentation.
As usually happens though, the real discoveries were made only after launch. Career Mode turned out to be a lot shorter than fans were expecting and once the Menu Books were completed, there wasn’t a whole lot left to do. You could race through the same lucrative tracks to earn Credits for the most expensive cars. Or you could spend real money on in-game currency, with microtransactions conveniently switched on after reviews dropped.
Polyphony Digital then lowered payouts for the most rewarding tracks, significantly increasing the grind for Legendary cars. Then servers went down, rendering a good chunk of the game inaccessible (since it was always online). This was more than enough time for the title to be review-bombed on Metacritic, becoming the lowest user-rated Sony-published title in the site’s history.
The developer eventually acknowledged the backlash, though it didn’t quite backtrack. It vowed to add more content and means of earning Credits in-game instead of repeating the same events. Soon enough, new cars, Scapes, Circuit Race Events, Endurance Race Missions, and increased payouts for certain races arrived. Everything seemed to be going just fine…until an update in late May increased the prices of Legendary cars because of course it did.
