Gran Turismo Sport
Publisher: Sony
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Platforms: PS4, PlayStation VR
Genre: Racing
Release Date: 2016
Gran Turismo Sport is an upcoming racing video game that is being developed by Polyphony Digital and will be published by Sony. The game is being made only for the PlayStation 4 and was officially announced at Sony’s 2015 Paris Games Week event. It is the thirteenth game overall in the Gran Turismo video game series and is a separate, standalone entry and is not part of the main numbered series. The company has also said this is not actually one of the mid-level steps the series has put out before and that this will be bigger than those other smaller versions. The game is being produced and directed by Kazunori Yamauchi who has a long history with the Gran Turismo series.
While he is not the president of Polyphony Digital, Yamauchi actually had a career as a race car driver, allowing him to have a point of view that is different from other game developers. He knows what it feels like to be behind the wheel of a car.
Development
Gran Turismo Sport was first announced during the Paris Games Week in October 2015 as another addition in the Gran Turismo series, though not as Gran Turismo 7. The development team announced this was not a numbered addition to the series but was also not a prologue game. “Fair to say [series director Kazunori Yamauchi] has been making these games for some considerable time now. I think it’s reasonable to assume that something else might come down the road. Is it a Prologue? No, I think it’ll be more than that. The old days, when the games were offline, the experience was defined by what’s on the disc. You had a distinction between a Prologue and a full GT, it was very stark. When the game becomes more of an online connected experience, that distinction blurs. This will be much more than a Prologue type experience.”
This is the first game in the series that will be playable on the PS4 and the new PlayStation VR. It’s been made in a way to take full advantage of the improved processing speed of the PS4. The physics will reportedly be improved to take advantage and engine sounds have also been a priority for Polyphony Digital since the launch of Gran Turismo 6. the company’s new sound engineer Mike Caviezel was specifically hired, according to the developer to change the way the sounds are generated in the game and to give the cars more realistic sounds to go along with the more realistic performance and look.
The game is going to have a public beta in the spring of 2016.
Story
There isn’t any information on an in depth story mode. For the most part, this game is about players taking control of one car or another and attempting to win races. Other Gran Turismo games have some sort of career racing mode that allows players to act as though they are competing against some of the best race drivers in the world, while racking up career statistics themselves. It has not been confirmed this kind of a mode will be included in Gran Turismo Sport.
Gameplay
Gran Turismo Sport will include three game modes: “Campaign”, “Sports Mode” and “Arcade Mode”. Both offline and online racing will be featured in the game according to the developers. These three game modes are a kind of departure from what has been seen in other Gran Turismo games and there isn’t a great deal of information currently available detailing the differences between the three game modes.
The game is also going to have a tie-in to the real world racing organization, FIA. The FIA Gran Turismo Online Championship will see the organization formally ratify the “Gran Turismo Online Championship.” Two championships will be held simultaneously throughout the year: the “Nations Cup” and “Manufacturers Cup”, where players represent either their country or their favourite car manufacturer. Once this agreement goes into full effect, FIA will manage the series directly as any of their other franchises, including the World Rally Championship, Formula 1, or World Endurance Championships. The winners of this series will be honoured at the FIA’s annual ceremonies in Paris. The two cups are said to incorporate live e-sports events where competitors will actually gather and play the game in the tournament setting.
While the online mode is going to be a large part of the game, the developers have said it will also be easy enough to play for people who are new to racing games. There will be an extensive offline mode for those who don’t wish to compete with people that have a big background in racing games. This is also the first game in the series that will feature playability on the PlayStation VR device. There isn’t much information about this particular feature but the developers have gone on record saying, “through the testing that we’ve performed so far, the experience looks to be something that’s very good, and very natural.”
Cars
While the entire list of cars that will be in Gran Turismo Sport have not been announced, we can tell from the trailer a number of cars that are going to be featured in the game. Most of the cars that made an appearance in the trailer are new to the series, though there have also been some returnees featured in trailers as well.
- Alfa Romeo 4C ’15
- Audi R8 LMS #28 (Audi Sport Team WRT) ’15
- Aston Martin Vantage GT3 ’14
- Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo
- Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo
- Lamborghini Veneno ’13
- Mazda Roadster ’16
- Mercedes-Benz AMG GT S ’15
- Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 ’11
- Mazda LM55 Vision Gran Turismo
- Audi R18 TDI (Audi Sport Team Joest) ’11
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game
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