By the Numbers: How Gran Turismo Hit 50 Million

Sony Computer Entertainment has announced the cumulative worldwide shipment of 50 million Gran Turismo games worldwide.  This milestone was achieved thanks to the international release of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, after selling 2.2 million copies after just a few weeks on store shelves in Europe, North America, and Asia.  Here’s what series creator Kazunori Yamauchi had to say about the event:

“Initially, Gran Turismo was an ‘alternative’ racing game, kind of an outsider in the genre,” said Kazunori Yamauchi, Producer of Gran Turismo. “And we made it thinking that it would be okay as long as it reached out to ‘the select few who would agree with us.’ So this figure — 50 million units — is simply astounding.  [ … ]  I would really like to thank all the fans who have supported the Gran Turismo series over the years, for all their passion and love of the game. We’d like to continue making every effort to create cutting edge, high quality games, so that we don’t disappoint anyone’s expectations.”

Now, let’s break down the raw data and see how each game actually contributed to this total.  I think you’ll find the results very interesting.

First of all, you may be surprised to see that Gran Turismo 4 actually sold fewer copies than any of the previous games, despite drastically improved visuals and unprecedented depth and variety of game play.  However, it was the second game on the PlayStation 2, and the “wow-factor” of Gran Turismo 3′s visuals back in 2001 were not so unique to casual gamers four years later. If you look closely at the chart, that’s a trend that was also repeated with the first two games in the series on the original PlayStation.  When the series hits a new console for the first time, it’s almost guaranteed to sell more than its predecessor, as Polyphony Digital flexes their creative muscles on new hardware.  By the time the second game arrives, we see more new features and cars introduced, but the general populace is not visually stimulated enough to run to the store.

Of course, that’s not the case in Europe, where the numbers show an increasing demand for each game in the series.  Unlike North America, nearly every European who bought  Gran Turismo 3 also picked up Gran Turismo 4, and continue to lead the sales of Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.  The series’ rising popularity in Europe also seems to be driving Sony’s marketing and promotional decisions.  Europeans enjoyed a whirlwind tour with series creator Kazunori Yamauchi attending lavish launch parties in London, Madrid, and Germany, while the United States has yet to see even a television commercial.  It will be interesting to see how Sony Computer Entertainment continues to promote the games as we slowly move towards the monumental release of Gran Turismo 5 in Europe and abroad – it could be the beginning of a strong focus on the Old World as the Gran Turismo franchise moves away from its homeland…