Gran Turismo Sport

Gran Turismo Sport
Day One Edition cover art
Developer(s)	Polyphony Digital
Publisher(s)	Sony Interactive Entertainment
Producer(s)	Kazunori Yamauchi
Series	Gran Turismo
Platform(s)	PlayStation 4
Release	NA: 17 October 2017 EU: 18 October 2017 JP: 19 October 2017
Genre(s)	Racing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Gran Turismo Sport is a racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation 4. It was announced at the 2015 Paris Games Week and is the thirteenth game overall in the Gran Turismo video game series and the first game in the series to be released for PlayStation 4. It was released worldwide in October 2017, receiving generally positive reviews from critics.

Gameplay

Similar to its predecessors Gran Turismo Sport is a racing game and will include two game modes: "Sports Mode" and "Arcade Mode". Online racing will feature in the game. The game has been described as different from the "Prologue" titles seen in the past in the series and will feature more content. Unlike Gran Turismo 5 and 6, the game does not feature dynamic weather system and day-night cycle. However, players still have the option to modify the race's time of day before entering the race. It will have 177 cars and 27 configurations of 19 locations to race on. For the first time in the series, the game will feature Porsche vehicles included in the game after Electronic Arts had lost their exclusive licensing rights to the Porsche brand (previous Gran Turismo games only included RUF as a substitute).

FIA Gran Turismo Online Championship

The FIA aims to formally ratify the Gran Turismo Online Championship at the next World Motorsport Council meeting. Two championships will be held simultaneously throughout the year: the Nations Cup, where players represent their country, and the Manufacturers Cup, where players represent their favourite car manufacturer. Once ratified, the FIA will manage the series directly as they would with any of their other race series. The winners of the championships will be honoured at the FIA's annual prize-giving ceremony in Paris.

Live eSports events

The Nations Cup and the Manufacturers Cup will have "live" components similar to the regional finals held in the GT Academy competition. Organised online events are planned to be held on a regular basis.

PlayStation VR support

Gran Turismo Sport was originally announced to be fully compatible with Sony Interactive Entertainment's virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR. The experience while playing was described by series creator Kazunori Yamauchi as "very good and very natural". However, it was announced later that VR support would be limited to a special VR Tour Mode.

TAG Heuer partnership

Polyphony Digital and TAG Heuer announced a partnership for the game. TAG Heuer serves as the timekeeper and watch brand for Gran Turismo Sport, where its "Live Timing Technology" is utilized to measure all in-game time. Additionally, TAG Heuer is integrated into the museum section of Gran Turismo Sport, showcasing the history of the Swiss watch maker.

Development and release

In an interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu (and translated by Polygon), series creator Kazunori Yamauchi mentioned that "Gran Turismo Sport would be coming to the PlayStation 4 console, possibly "in a year or two [from 2013]". He also mentioned that it will be based on the same physics engine that Gran Turismo 6 uses. In an interview with GamesTM magazine, Kazunori Yamauchi mentioned a release for Gran Turismo Sport sometime in 2016/2017. He also spoke about how much more powerful the game will be on PlayStation 4 and how much easier it is to develop on the console versus Gran Turismo 6 on the PlayStation 3. Gran Turismo Sport was later announced at Paris Games Week. Sony originally claimed that Sport is a separate entry, but Yamauchi later confirmed that it is a main entry in the series.

Polyphony Digital expected Gran Turismo Sport to have much improved gameplay elements due to the enhanced processing power of the PlayStation 4. The game is the first in the Gran Turismo series to support the virtual reality headset PlayStation VR. A beta was scheduled to take place in the first and second quarter of 2016 before a full release on November 15, but Sony later announced that the beta had been cancelled so as to prevent the game from being delayed to 2017. On 30 August 2016 it had been announced that the game will be delayed to 2017 to further polish the game.

Despite the cancellation of the beta for the game in 2016, a closed beta was confirmed for 17 March 2017 for selected users in the United States and Europe to experience the game's features prior to its release.

Kamui Kobayashi was one of the drivers who provided technical assistance in the game.

The inclusion of Porsche automobiles was announced on 11 April 2017. Following expiration of Electronic Arts' exclusive licensing to Porsche, Gran Turismo Sport will mark the first time Porsche will be featured in a Gran Turismo title.

Open beta and release

On 13 July 2017 the game was given a release date of 17 October in North America. A free demo launched on 9 October. Lasting five days, the open beta allowed a limited amount of in-game progress to carry over to the full release on 17 October 2017. The demo included all three modes: arcade, campaign, and sport.

PlayStation Plus members could pre-load the demo on October 7. While the game is the first in the franchise to connect to PlayStation VR, the demo did not include that feature. The demo also had the livery editor for customizing vehicles and Scapes photo mode. More than a million people played the beta.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	75/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Destructoid	6/10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	6/10
Game Informer	7.75/10
GameRevolution
GameSpot	8/10
GamesRadar+
IGN	7.5/10

Gran Turismo Sport received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

Eurogamer's Martin Robinson described GT Sport as a deviation from past games in the series, by cutting the vast car collections of its predecessors and placing a sharper emphasis on competitive online driving. "There are no lunar rovers, no 19th century single horsepowered wagons and not even anything by way of an open wheel racer to be found in its car list at launch. Yet, conversely, this is possibly the most focused, directly enjoyable game Polyphony Digital has put out since the heady days of Gran Turismo 3." Robinson praised the improved sound design and addition of a livery editor that allows players to create and share their own designs online.

IGN likewise noted that GT Sport's garage and track selection is smaller when compared to other racing games, a decision they found impossible to forgive, but described the shift to online racing as serious, sensible, and well-structured. "That PvP online environment, or Sport Mode as its dubbed, is where developer Polyphony Digital has gambled all its chips. The good news is that it has indeed created a sturdy online racing venue." Luke Reilly observed the introduction of a Sportsmanship Rating that, over time, separates poor drivers from good ones, and while less than perfect "rewards clean sectors, fair overtakes, and respectful racing."

Ray Carsillo of Electronic Gaming Monthly considered the game to visually gorgeous and thought the cars handled well, "easily the strongest aspect of the game", but was scathing in his assessment of the always online approach to play. "If you don't play the game online, you can't save the game, and most of the games features–only single arcade races are available offline–are locked away." Carsillo awarded the game a 6/10 concluding it will disappoint anyone hoping for a more traditional Gran Turismo experience.

Jason Faulkner of Game Revolution was equally critical of the game, devoting a large portion of his review to observing the differences between GT Sport and racing games of rival color. "You'll get a lot more feeling of the weight of the cars as you drive them in this game than you do in Forza, but there's still something lacking when compared to Project Cars 2." While the cars are stunningly recreated with excellent handling, Faulkner said there simply aren't enough of them, especially when contrasted with the two aforementioned titles. "The track list is sparse as well. There are only 17 locations available in GT Sport, with variations bringing the total number of circuits up to 40." Faulkner lamented the loss of single-player content in favor of GT Sport's new online mode, which no matter how well crafted, would be unavailable when not connected to the servers.

Justin Towell of GamesRadar awarded GT Sport 4 out of 5 citing superb tracks, solid controls and incredible handling nuance across a range of high powered vehicles. Towell said that although the game continues to offer an educational single player experience with a collection of scenarios to overcome, it's somewhat "pedestrian" and not a patch on Forza 7's career mode. Instead, the central pillar of GT Sport, and the game's main selling point, are the FIA-recognised online game modes: "Winning a slipstreaming race around an oval against real opponents is far more exciting than any offline mode. And with the real-world calendar of events taking place at set times, it all feels like it really means something." Towell noted the inconvenience that can arise when players lose internet connection but presumed the measure was "to keep an eye on cheaters".

Sales

Gran Turismo Sport topped the UK all-formats physical sales charts for one week, selling three times as many copies as Forza Motorsport 7. It did the same in Japan and New Zealand, and ranked number 2 in Australia.

The game reached number 1 in the Japanese download sales charts, number 2 in the European download chart, and number 5 in the US.

External links

• Official website