Kazunori Yamauchi on Gran Turismo 7’s Future, the GT World Tour, and More

[Mariangello]

Interesting how he says they can’t talk about VR. Kinda feels like Sony told him to stay silent about it for now. It could be something significant that they want to reveal in a future showcase. Hopefully full VR support.

On the other hand it could also mean there are no plans for VR racing in GT7. I always thought that PS4/PS5 cross compatibility would interfere with its implementation, and I don’t think it’ll happen until GT8 (which may come out sooner than we think).

I'm more interested in what they choose as the main feature for GT8.

I wouldn't be surprised if they make a smaller GT online game for PC players only with restricted content, primary focused on esport, with a paid subscription like iRacing. Or maybe GT8 will be the first game that won't be released on any playstation console...

 

[MroczMR]

Interesting how he says they can’t talk about VR. Kinda feels like Sony told him to stay silent about it for now. It could be something significant that they want to reveal in a future showcase. Hopefully full VR support.

On the other hand it could also mean there are no plans for VR racing in GT7. I always thought that PS4/PS5 cross compatibility would interfere with its implementation, and I don’t think it’ll happen until GT8 (which may come out sooner than we think).

I think (and hope) this is all about the first part.

But why would PS4/PS5 cross compatibility interfere with this? To be honest there is bigger chance for VR mode with game that works and is optimized even for weaker PS4 than full PS5 GT8 which would be much more demanding for console and won't have enough power left for VR...

 

[lancashire lad]

Interesting how he says they can’t talk about VR. Kinda feels like Sony told him to stay silent about it for now. It could be something significant that they want to reveal in a future showcase. Hopefully full VR support.

Sony want people to order their new VR headsets (I have), so I don't see how keeping quiet on it being used in a game would benefit Sony. I would presume it's more to do with Kaz and his wonky sat nav roadmap of not knowing what PD are capable of delivering in the future. I don't own GT7 btw but full VR in any racing game would be great for the next gen consoles.

 

[OverTheTop983]

Thinking about GT8 now, 9 months after the release of GT7, makes no sense.

 

[RobertHammer]

GT7 will be active min 5 years , at best you might get GT8 at the end of PS5

 

[05XR8]

Thinking about GT8 now, 9 months after the release of GT7, makes no sense.

Its been that way since forever. A crew will start working on the next game, once the previous game has released.

 

[Imari]

I'm more interested in what they choose as the main feature for GT8.

What did they choose as the main feature of GT7? If you say Music Rally I'm gonna punt a kitten into a furnace.

GT7 will be active min 5 years , at best you might get GT8 at the end of PS5

You have no idea if any of this is true.

 

[Mariangello]

What did they choose as the main feature of GT7? If you say Music Rally I'm gonna punt a kitten into a furnace.

Hm, honestly, I don't even know if they promoted any other main feature besides that. 🤣

But they also promised the return of a popular GT career and we know what we got...

 

[georgetigra]

Omg a better b spec it will be amazing!
I can't wait to watch my cars with my liveries racing!
Also a full psvr2 support..
Just take my money..

 

[RobertHammer]

What did they choose as the main feature of GT7? If you say Music Rally I'm gonna punt a kitten into a furnace.
You have no idea if any of this is true.

What about dynamic weather with day and night cycle? also saying this game is doomed after barely 1 year is also nonsense
those 5 years is just my speculation based on when they released GT6-Sport-GT7 , i can be wrong who knows 🤷‍♂️

 

[Samus]

Well if they're still working on it they probably don't have a release date set.

No, but he could at least tell us what they are working on. They keep showing it off as a competitive AI racing against the best in the world but then he previously talked about it being a learning tool.

So which is it? How is Sophy actually going to be implemented in the game? They must have an idea at this point. Well, we know they do thanks to dataminers telling us they're working on missions. Why can't PD tell us that, and expand?

A rough timeframe also wouldn't go amiss, is it a few months of work left, or years?

To just answer "oh that, it's still being worked on" is just another of his nothing answers, like all the others. What have we learned from this interview? Next to northing.

It's utterly pointless granting an interview if you've no intention of actually being informative in answers.

 

[Imari]

What about dynamic weather with day and night cycle? also saying this game is doomed after barely 1 year is also nonsense

Dynamic weather with day and night cycle? That isn't on all the tracks, and has been done in many other games including GT5 and 6? It was a headline feature for GT5, it was odd when it was removed from GTS. It was a feature in GT7 but I'm not sure I'd call it their main feature if only because of it's incompleteness.

As for saying the game is doomed after one year, why are you replying to me with that? You're the one making wild claims that the game is going to be active for five years.

 

[G.T.Ace]

That was the definition of a nothingburger.

 

[permaculture]

More word salad from the man👩‍🍳 enjoy your meal but you can't eat it now you have to wait for the future

this man went straight for the Venture Capital speak! truly beautiful.... having him turn and ask, 'wouldn't that be a neat feature?' to a group of people asking him to make the "racing a car against other cars" part of the game work correctly.

this was a great interview - it alleviated any doubts i had about this guy being a grifter.

 

[symbiotix]

Sony want people to order their new VR headsets (I have), so I don't see how keeping quiet on it being used in a game would benefit Sony. I would presume it's more to do with Kaz and his wonky sat nav roadmap of not knowing what PD are capable of delivering in the future. I don't own GT7 btw but full VR in any racing game would be great for the next gen consoles.

It could be because all PSVR2 pre-orders are already sold out worldwide. I'm just guessing, but it might make sense to keep an ace in the pocket to generate a second round of sales closer to PSVR2 launch once Sony has more VR units available to sell..... Who knows...

 

[Famine]

If this is all the juiciest info MULTIPLE journalists could get from Kaz at this conference COMBINED... then that's simply hilarious.

You should see the questions I've not put in the article.

 

[AmyUD06]

You should see the questions I've not put in the article.

Please, please post.

 

[Samus]

Probably like some of his previous interviews.

Interviewer: Detailed question.

Kaz: [Laughs]. Maybe.

 

[Famine]

Please, please post.

Wouldn't really be fair to do that, especially as I wasn't in the room - these aren't just from one round-table, as noted earlier. Suffice to say there were a couple of "personal" questions that didn't really reference the game in any specific way and wouldn't enlighten anyone who's followed GT since Sport, never mind the beginning.

They're not in the piece because they're just not relevant to anything.


Also there's a tonal difference between the "can't talk about that" answer for the roadmap (which is more of a not going to talk about that) and for PSVR2 (which is more of a not allowed to talk about that). As I say in the preamble, what he doesn't say is sometimes as enlightening as what he does - or how he doesn't say it

 

[Sasek]

Still nothing about track creator which was possible on old PS3.

 

[ICEYOU3]

I think he just needs a break from Gran Turismo, the old guy deserves it. Maybe make that plant game he was talking about.

 

[OverTheTop983]

GT7 will be active min 5 years , at best you might get GT8 at the end of PS5

This. It makes no sense to release a GT8 where with an update you can overturn the 7.

 

[Samus]

This. It makes no sense to release a GT8 where with an update you can overturn the 7.

A new game ALWAYS makes sense to the publisher. You don't make a ton of money with updates.

I personally expect a PS5 only GT game mid/late 2024. Maybe even earlier.

 

[RobertHammer]

A new game ALWAYS makes sense to the publisher. You don't make a ton of money with updates.
I personally expect a PS5 only GT game mid/late 2024. Maybe even earlier.

If it was made by EA or Take 2 then maybe but i really doubt it

 

[Samus]

If it was made by EA or Take 2 then maybe but i really doubt it

Right, because Sony famously don't make sequels and don't want money.

There is no money in continually updating one game for 5+ years unless you're called Rockstar and your game farts money because of its popularity.

GT is not GTA. It's not going to continue making them the same amount of money that a GT8 at $70 sold to 10+ million would.

 

[RobertHammer]

Right, because Sony famously don't make sequels and don't want money.

There is no money in continually updating one game for 5+ years unless you're called Rockstar and your game farts money because of its popularity.

GT is not GTA. It's not going to continue making them the same amount of money that a GT8 at $70 sold to 10+ million would.

Of course they do sequels but not this early , hell GT7 was released this year not even 1 year old and people talking about GT8 ...

 

[Samus]

Of course they do sequels but not this early , hell GT7 was released this year not even 1 year old and people talking about GT8 ...

Well that's why I said 2024 would be my guess. Certainly before 5 years if they can help it.

 

[Nathan88]

A PS5 only GT will not necessarily be GT8, at this point I'd put money on a GT7 Spec 2 for PS5 only. It seems clear to me GT7 will be supported for a number of years, that's before factoring in the PSVR2 & PC releases.

How PD/Sony manage that in terms of messaging and pricing I've no idea. But we see with HFW the new DLC is PS5 only. Longer-term it's not unrealistic to think GT7 will be part of the PS+ catalogue, which is a new way to monetise games.

 

[Samus]

GT7 Spec 2

Yes, you've mentioned that about 50 times now. Still not seeing any evidence that is planned or likely beyond your hopes.

It seems clear to me GT7 will be supported for a number of years

Why does it?

PC releases

Oh, that again. Remind me, when is that scheduled?

it's not unrealistic to think GT7 will be part of the PS+ catalogue, which is a new way to monetise games.

GT games will likely never be part of PS+ for licensing cost reasons.

 

[Tired Tyres]

GT7 will be active min 5 years , at best you might get GT8 at the end of PS5

The second game on a system never takes as long as the first game. Don't be surprised if they turn the server off on GT7 six months later.