Kazunori Yamauchi Responds to Gran Turismo 7 Fan Outrage

[AutumnalGlow]

I'm broken, I'm actually resorting to pointing out that FH5 is free on GamePass for $15 a month

(Free for $15/month doesn't really make sense but yeah)
At least there's plenty of other games to play in there too.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Mate, out of curiosity, no hate or judgement your way, what was your thought on the pay cuts to several races? It seems to me the original payouts were already seen as painstaking (grind-wise) by many, but they accepted trudging through them.

I don't really care. Some of them were justified in my opinion. Take the Dirt Champions race on Fisherman's Ranch. Getting $65,000 for one lap whilst the other event gave $50,000 for two laps didn't make sense. The update has scaled the payouts better in my opinion. If the events were scaled properly in the first place, we wouldn't have such a big backlash.

 

[FordGTGuy]

Language Warning.

Mutahar / SomeOrdinaryGamers just put out a video today talking about the GT7 controversy. Definitely worth a watch.

Comments in that video attempt to compare it to Halo Infinite. People seem to forget that Halo multiplayer is free to play and GT7 is $70. We should expect a difference in monetization.

Halo Infinite definitely has issues though.

 

[SestoScudo]

I wasted a considerable amount of time grinding in The Crew 2 to get the Nissan R390. It was tedious but the sense of achievement was massive. Maybe that speaks to my life experience where I've had to work bloody hard to get what I want. Not many people have the same kind of drive or motivation that I do, which is probably why I've shrugged off a lot of these issues. If I want something, I will get it by whatever means necessary.

I do not speak for everybody when I say this.

I can grind my friend but if it comes to the point where im wasting my life and time. No thank you.

A lot of these games nowadays are making the grind exhausting so they make you pay.

Gran Turismo's endurance races themselves were a grind but worth it due to the payout and hidden cars.

A lot of games in the past made you grind but you still achieved it by constantly progressing unlike todays games where you are put on a treadmill.

Grind is made long and with garbage payouts to make you pay for microtranasctions.

 

[samppa_944]

Or I could put another game in my console and actually have fun. I could even put another GT game in, where a McLaren F1 cost 1M credits, not 18.5M.

But when you have completed the other GT games, this is what you do. Yes and that car price is too much, did not buy XJ13 either.

Fun is custom races and sport mode. Wish those earned more money though.

Can't keep up this grinding constantly, which is why I am focusing on the fun bit after I get C89. FIA coming up. Always is my plan to focus on hardcore collecting cars in GT games and doing GT mode the first few weeks, before focusing on online. Done it like this since GT5 at least. Fun to have a stacked garage to choose from and later on just focus on enjoying the hard earned cars.

 

[CeeJay]

18.2 MILLION CREDITS for the F1.. I'm done.. I'm out.

 

[Gt79]

18.2 MILLION CREDITS for the F1.. I'm done.. I'm out.

 

[ND4SPD]

Kaz: "I don't like the fact that you've all been grinding the same race over and over again to earn credits so to avoid having you all to grind for credits I'm gonna significantly lower the payouts."

Also Kaz: "btw, the Mclaren F1 is now available for 18x more than it costed in GT sport, good luck!" 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

 

[meekrab]

I appreciate that GT7 is meant to be a game played for 5+ years, whatever the life of the PS5 is intended to be. I get that eventually I won't be able to play it on my PS4 anymore, because features will be implemented that cannot run at an acceptable framerate on decades old hardware. I'm even sympathetic to the release-month issues around BoP, tuning loopholes, off track schenanigans... although GTSport had a pretty robust system in place already, I understand that it wasn't ideal either and experimentation needs to happen.

But you can't ask your customers to take "a longer term view" or whatever the translator decided Kaz meant when you ship a game with 15 hours worth of content and no races for half the cars to reasonably compete in.

 

[HuskyGT]

Been watching videos about GT7's monetization. It's pretty sad that the game has fallen into this. Microtransactions from GT5 and the way the game was rigged to entice players to take the "easy way out" planted the seed for me to abandon the franchise after being a devoted fan since game one. Does anyone remember the credit packs from back in the day? The most expensive pack was (correct me if I'm wrong) $59.99 for a few million credits. Just enough to buy one of the expensive cars.

Who's to blame here really. Sony? Because I don't see a reason why PD, having done the marvelous progression and reward system from the first 4 games, suddenly decides to degrade it in newer games.

I was so close to buying a PS5 and GT7. I'm itching for the GT experience. It's been too long. I'll pass on this one once again. I hope I'm still around for GT8.

 

[Killa Aaron]

Such a short dissatisfying campaign

 

[mwoodski]

18.2 MILLION CREDITS for the F1.. I'm done.. I'm out.

4 million less than the car costs IRL.

 

[FordGTGuy]

4 million less than the car costs IRL.

It only costs $200, what a bargain.

 

[Samus]

4 million less than the car costs IRL.

Right, and how do we become a property baron in GT7, start our own business of any kind, or even beome a race car driver that earns $40 million a year on a contract driving only 23 races? Or, you know, sell things to make money in any way? Like cars? There is none of that.

That's why the "It's realistic to real life" argument falls flat, from Kaz or anyone. That only works if we can earn real life money as well, otherwise it's grossly unbalanced. You can't just pick and choose which aspects of your in-game economy matches the real world economy and expect it to work. Well, I guess it is working in the sense that most people can't earn enough to ever afford one, but that's not very fun.

 

[SestoScudo]

18.2 million wow!!

With crappy payouts while the cap is at 20 million.

You will grind then start again. This is bs!!

They are deliberately doing this so you dont farm credits. It will get to the point where you get tired and quit which leads to you buying their mtx.

 

[breyzipp]

So the McLaren F1 appears at the Legendary Dealer. Price tag : 18,500,000 Cr. (for the record it costed 1,000,000 Cr. in GTS)

I stared at the car for 3 minutes.

I flagged the car “Add to Wish List”

And I left the Legendary Dealer with a very sad feeling in my stomach.

I’m sure Kazunori Yamauchi is extremely happy. This is how he wants us to play the game right? Wave expensive cars in front of our eyes but ooh noo, we are not allowed to be able to buy them!

**** this car Pokémon crap. Really.

 

[dabz343]

This is PD's response after the outcry from fans? Wow, this is not how you resolve things.

 

[Imari]

They say that they want people to drive and experience the cars, but their pricing tells me that they really don't. They saw NFTs and thought "ah, artificial scarcity seems like it works a treat, let's get us some of that action".

God forbid someone gets to drive a car they love without dedicating 20 hours of gameplay to the effort first. There's pride and accomplishment, and then there's whatever the **** this is.

 

[infamousphil]

It hurts me to watch Gran Turismo's community continueously abused by PD and Kaz. I've been a fan of this community since the begining but have not bought into the series since GT6.
Gran Turismo's REAL LIFE goal is to make money. Though making money is how the real world functions, PD and Kaz's GT Sport is an obvious money grab and so is GT7... Sport's monetary success on steroids. Look at it as a cost of doing business.
While we cry out loud and moan about what we get for our money, they weigh their current earnings against their future. And they see light. Maybe not as bright as they predict but light nontheless because those who bought into it (PS4 and 5) will likely continue to subscribe and purchase their merchandise.
Yall bought into the hype. Committed your funds and ignored the yellow flags. Now we have a scene of chaotic juvenile behavior? How else do you explain ANOTHER one of Kaz's 'spin machine', 'lost in translation' insulting slaps in the face of trust addresses. It's not going to get better, my friends.
They have collected on their product and in response... added insult to injury based on YOUR hopes and wishes 😷

 

[mokalovesoulmat]

Its been ~2 days I played again since last downtime. I give it a go again for a bit -- this time I played Circuit Experience (they have monies and may take a while to golden it all!) and Mission Races. Also it feels like most users who complaining were just finished the menu books (and maybe the licenses).

When I think about Kaz' letter yesterday, he want you to NOT playing and buying everything TOO FAST 2 or 3 weeks after release. I mean, he wants you to chill out, enjoy all events available, and DROLL OVER that expensive cars that you can obtain LATER when GT7 have a really lot of contents by updates.

In GT7 I would like to have users enjoy lots of cars and races even without microtransactions.

Yes, currently enjoying Circuit Experience while trying to gold it all. I still did not want to buying any mtx

At the same time the pricing of cars is an important element that conveys their value and rarity, so I do think it’s important for it to be linked with the real world prices.

Ok, you wanted us to recognize something called fraternity? vanity? pride? sense of accomplishment? or whatever you call it. Well, fine, but I don't think most gamers will agree with you -- to them GT is just a video game, no need to touch these

I want to make GT7 a game in which you can enjoy a variety of cars lots of different ways, and if possible would like to try to avoid a situation where a player must mechanically keep replaying certain events over and over again.

Yes I am still experimenting using different cars to different race and I just want to ensure I can finish 1st -- like the other gamers because 1st place does have most prize money!

We will in time let you know the update plans for additional content, additional race events and additional features that will constructively resolve this.

This one that we cannot waiting for too long. I personally don't think GT7 could something called "25 years in the making" -- there is just too little stuff right now if you want to mention it that way. Example: Midfield raceway, cape town, special stage, autumn ring, seattle, and some other tracks are not exist.

It pains me that I can’t explain the details regarding this at this moment, but we plan on continuing to revise GT7 so that as many players as possible can enjoy the game.

Yeah just hurry up.

We would really appreciate it if everyone could watch over the growth of Gran Turismo 7 from a somewhat longer term point of view.

I think I have done that already just now. Now give us what we need!

===

I am not in defending Kaz or something, just want to share my opinion about what in his head and HOW HE WANT us to play. And it is still understandable that we are gamers who just want to play his game in our heart's content

tldr: you want expensive cars? not right now

 

[BossBattle]

tldr: you want expensive cars? not right now

*unless you pay for them.

 

[Imari]

That's pretty much the rule on every business. They will try to use every trick in the book to make you buy their product/service.

That's not true. Some companies will use every trick possible, others believe that the poor perception from obviously manipulative practices outweighs any benefit. And obviously there's everything in between. It's a scale.

It's not a rule that you have to be as far to the asshole end of the scale as possible.

Indie and small devs tend to be the ones who value customer loyalty over short term profit, as they're trying to build a career. They don't need the most money of all time, they just need enough money to be able to support making the games they want to make. Having 100k customers that will buy all of their next three games is more valuable to them than making $1 million ripping people off right now.

The Acti/Blizz/EA/Ubi/Bethesdas of the world just go for profit, because they don't give a **** what anyone thinks and the people in charge know that they're going to make a mint regardless of the outcome. Big number right now trumps everything else.

Originally, Gran Turismo seemed to fall more in the former camp. Even with GT5, it seemed like it was more of an artistic endeavour than a profit based one. Polyphony wanted enough money to be able to fulfil their grand visions of an epic racing game, even if the end result was somewhat of a mixed bag.

I think a lot of people have been caught out by this gradual shift from making something that is as enjoyable as possible to appeal to players, to a product that is created to try and squeeze out as many dollars from customers as possible even at the expense of enjoyment. It's not that we don't see it elsewhere or that it's not a valid business tactic, it's just that it's not what a lot of people thought Gran Turismo was.

Assassin's Creed or Far Cry? Sure, not even surprising any more when they try and milk people. Gran Turismo?

I think a lot of people thought that Gran Turismo would never go down that route, even though in retrospect it's been creeping up for a while.

 

[blockhd]

Hi everybody... As i am reading this (only got through about 4/35 pages), i am horrified... There is just so much wrong with the game...

1. Progress in in beginning is too fast - they just throw a few good cars at your face and there goes all apprecieation for anything

2. Cars cannot be sold - they are not worth anything... How can i apprecieate something that has no value? On the other hand some cars are obscenely expensive and yet, when you buy them, they are worth nothing, as you cannot sell them...

3. Game is forcing you to buy new cars for every other menu book, thus keeping you broke all the time....

4. Brand central invite - i mean, what kind of a joke is this?!

5. Roulette... Dont even get me started. 5k credits for a 5 star ticket. Cmon.... Though i got mates who scored 500k multiple times... So can't really say if i am so unlucky or its just plain BS.

6. Steering wheel bug - i literally can't steer past 180° with my Fanatec DD1... Wheel just gets stuck and then it turns abruptly after some random time... Happened on R32 GT-R and some other cars... Made my GT-R menu book a nightmare. Anyone else? EDIT: ok my bad, apparently ride height is too low 🤣

7. Multiplayer payouts. Just lol.

8. Etc...

TLRD: GT7 Is not an AAA game but Its just corporate ******** to support MTX and it took me 2 weeks and your insight (Thanks gt planet community) to see this...

Dont get me wrong i love the game... But surely my collection of cars will not be completed anytime soon, probably will stop playing way before that happens... Sadly.

 

[mokalovesoulmat]

*unless you pay for them.

Kaz: I make it so expensive that you don't even want to use our mtx. So get the car later will ya? Play with my concept!!!1!!!!!1

3. Game is forcing you to buy new cars for every other menu book, thus keeping you broke all the time....

Are you sure? I don't remember I am forced to buy car from menu book. I only buy them when I feel lazy and just want to save time lol

 

[breyzipp]

Are you sure? I don't remember I am forced to buy car from menu book. I only buy them when I feel lazy and just want to save time lol

Indeed that is not correct at all. They award you the car you need from the championship before it. The ONLY car I bought during all 39 menu books was the Toyota Tundra TRD PRO (apart from the very first starter car). All the rest I won from championships or menu books themselves.

 

[brocp]

Honestly? **** Kaz and **** this antiquated way of playing racing games. What makes it worse is the fact the vast majority of games now let you do want you want when you want. Yes there are career modes in F1 or ACC but if I want to just load up a race I can pick the car and track I want right away. None of this menu or mission or grinding or whatever ******** Polyphony have used for 25 years now. Why should we have to unlock tracks exactly? Why are certain cars so much more expensive than they were in GT Sport? We've got better weather, but not on all tracks. Honestly Kaz is just another Kojima, so far up their own arse they think whatever they **** out people will eat it up, well Kaz, that's not happening and you are Polyphony are the ones who need to sort this garbage out.

 

[RSmsGrinsomat]

18.2 MILLION CREDITS for the F1.. I'm done.. I'm out.

Why so mad about it? You were able to get a look at it in the legendary showroom for free, isn't that a nice act of PD . There is no sense in driving a car in a racing game, it could get you addicted. PD is only trying to save our health, in spending less time in front of electronics, go outside, have a walk......

 

[brocp]

2.4 now apparently

 

[samppa_944]

Hi everybody... As i am reading this (only got through about 4/35 pages), i am horrified... There is just so much wrong with the game...

1. Progress in in beginning is too fast - they just throw a few good cars at your face and there goes all apprecieation for anything

2. Cars cannot be sold - they are not worth anything... How can i apprecieate something that has no value? On the other hand some cars are obscenely expensive and yet, when you buy them, they are worth nothing, as you cannot sell them...

3. Game is forcing you to buy new cars for every other menu book, thus keeping you broke all the time....

4. Brand central invite - i mean, what kind of a joke is this?!

5. Roulette... Dont even get me started. 5k credits for a 5 star ticket. Cmon.... Though i got mates who scored 500k multiple times... So can't really say if i am so unlucky or its just plain BS.

6. Steering wheel bug - i literally can't steer past 180° with my Fanatec DD1... Wheel just gets stuck and then it turns abruptly after some random time... Happened on R32 GT-R and some other cars... Made my GT-R menu book a nightmare. Anyone else? EDIT: ok my bad, apparently ride height is too low 🤣

7. Multiplayer payouts. Just lol.

8. Etc...

TLRD: GT7 Is not an AAA game but Its just corporate ******** to support MTX and it took me 2 weeks and your insight (Thanks gt planet community) to see this...

Dont get me wrong i love the game... But surely my collection of cars will not be completed anytime soon, probably will stop playing way before that happens... Sadly.

1. Perhaps yes. But then again, money grinding makes you respect cars too. I have now so much respect for my F50 and 911 strasse, due to grinding, and they are also great cars to drive. Can see 911 strasse to become meta at some point..
2. Yes this needs to be fixed, the selling. Don't buy cars you do not actually want, unless you are going for some mega grinding to collect all cars etc.
3. Yes, but you can grind between menu books
4. This could be argued both ways, brand invitations exist in real life (e.g. Ferrari has several such), so GT7 wanted to implement it
5. Tough to score at the roulette yes, but it is possible. My best ones: Pagani invitation, Aston Martin invitation, 500 000 cr, Nissan GT-R gr3. You need to get super lucky, it is possible to score still.
6. Not sure, this is partly buggy and partly realistic. X2019 is bugged. But use 1-1 roll bars to sort it out. R32 might be realistic, wheel rub or something with low ride height? 110mm front ride height sorts it out, 92mm or lower is wheel rub (car won't turn). Not sure, what is the exact limit, haven't tested that much.
7. Yes, this needs to be fixed, has to be similar to GT mode. Double to triple rewards?

 

[fmq75]

6 weeks ago i could finally get my hands on a PS5,my first playstation since PS2 and part of why i wanted it so badly (that i payed more than the usual price) was the upcoming release of GT7.My first GT since the allmighty GT3 (i did play xbox and all Forza Games in the meantime).I (pre)ordered the anniversary even if i find the extras ridicously overpriced for a 100€ edition.Even the pure preorder bonus seemed like better value.But i wanted the (awesome)steelbook so badly.That said,for a 25 years release i was really hoping for something they put more“love“in.Some nice collectors box with artbook and/or car whatever.

Anyway,after playing it for the first days the world was still ok,i liked the cafe missions with their little stories and there was a constant car,cash and lottery flow while playing through it.I enjoyed the driving so much (and still do) that i bought my first Wheel+wheelstand ONLY for GT,so i spent 500€ only for GT7.Not to mention the AutoArt Diecast Ford GT 40 LM (the white GT edition) i bought,cause its my absolute favorite car.I was hyped to the moon.

But soon after i finished the cafe and got a gold medal on all cups/events (i‘m NOT interested to do the stupid music rallys or missions,i want pure racing) the honeymoon was over.I realized how less content is there,how expensive everything is when your income is so low,how stupid many of the design choices are (going back and forth between literaly hundreds of small menus is awful) and i‘m not convinced about the mechanics of sports mode yet,but thats another story.

The MTAs and the always on left a bad taste right from the beginning but it was GTs“day(s) of shame“ when the **** hits the fan.Having a single player game,on disc even, that i can not play for more than 30 hours is one thing.But reducing the payouts for many races drastically following by this VERY lame statement from Yamauchi was breathtaking.And not even a small handful of credits for compensate,just the „we want you to appreciate the cars more hence we lowered the payouts“ bs…WTF?A slap in the face.

The core gameplay is so good but the review bombing on metacritic is the absolute right thing to do.This combined with all the reddit,youtube,GTplanet outrage will be hard to overlook for sony and most probably the only language they understand.