Toyota Doesn't Want Its Cars in Games With 'Illegal Street Racing'

[WanganDream]

Broadly, other than collaring someone at a GTWT event, no.

When the exclusivity thing was rearing its head, we both contacted our local Toyota offices. It went up the chain and came back down as "that's a decision for Toyota Head Office".

I have contacted Toyota Japan.
The answer was this. “It ’s a deal between us and the game developer, so we can’t tell you.”
My friend also contacted Toyota, but they just copied and pasted a similar answer.

 

[GTV0819]

I’m not exactly sure what your referring too, but Toyota is confirmed to not be in Need For Speed Heat, at least at launch. They also weren’t in FM7 or FH4, and while many people speculate on some type of Japanese bias Toyota has with licensing, I think it’s more likely that Polyphony just have an exclusivity deal with Toyota for games sold to the global market. Either way it sucks for people like me who just want a Widebody GR Supra

I feel you bro...

 

[261004]

As a longtime Gran Turismo fan since 2009, this is just plain racist and total BS. Now, I barely even played GT Sport because it didn’t had the LFA or the Prius! This is actually worse than Porsche-EA, because if it weren’t for EA, we wouldn’t have the chance to know RUF or GEMBALLA, and they still allow Turn 10 Studios/Playground Games to have them in their games!

Just like MCU’s Red Skull said : “a soul for a soul”

 

[breeminator]

Re games promoting illegal street racing, I read an article recently about violence in video games that claimed the research suggests the opposite happens, that video games provide an outlet for behaviour seen as unacceptable in the real world, and actually reduce its occurrence in the real world. So a game that features illegal street racing would be more likely to decrease real world illegal street racing, rather than promote it.

 

[DriftShock]

Re games promoting illegal street racing, I read an article recently about violence in video games that claimed the research suggests the opposite happens, that video games provide an outlet for behaviour seen as unacceptable in the real world, and actually reduce its occurrence in the real world. So a game that features illegal street racing would be more likely to decrease real world illegal street racing, rather than promote it.

And yet Donald Trump still blames recent shootings on videogames and NOT the fact he is currently the biggest knob in the world at the moment

 

[Tappajakoala]

Well done Toyota. 👍

 

[danimac]

I like how they mentioned Gran Turismo Sport
Also. Pfft Nerds! Is absolutely Priceless!
I would still love it if Toyota came to a street tuner game, like NFS. It’s just missing from my fav big hitters list like Nissan and Mitsubishi.
I’ve always enjoyed tuned Supra, Skyline and Evo. People in my neighbourhood have tuned versions of all. So not like they can stop people in the real word peeps gonna do it. So who cares just give us Toyota’s already.

 

[coltsjugg]

But what if I don’t want to play gt sport because it’s a terrible game? I wanted a Dodge Viper because, I got to race it, I wanted a Ferrari f1 car because, I got to race it, I wanted X because I got to race it. But I don’t want a supra, because it’s horrible, and I didn’t get to race it.

 

[SiriusR]

Surprised it's still not there.

So yeah, this basically confirms that Toyota JP got its head deep up its butt.

 

[Lukanyon]

Maybe we should ask RUF if they can start buying unnumbered Toyota chassis and building their own cars?

 

[McLaren]

Should’ve just said that from the beginning. Polyphony secured an exclusive license. Now the question is how long? Probably never know til another game showcases a Toyota.

 

[DriftShock]

That’s actually a beautiful way of putting it
Still, we need Toyota JP to get their fingers out of all the pies and just stop Ramming (see what I did there) their heads up their arse

 

[TheNuvolari]

 

[TokoTurismo]

Surprised it's still not there.

So yeah, this basically confirms that Toyota JP got its head deep up its butt.

THANK YOU ToyotaUK. That was all me, and others needed to know. Why couldn't Toyota itself just had said that in the very beginning instead of going all this fiasco?

Anyways, it's pretty much confirmed PD has an exclusive license to this company (like everybody kept saying in the past despite some saying it wasn't), and that ToyotaJP has a stick up its exhaust.

All I can say is it better not be too long, because Forza Motorsport 8 is next year and I want to see Toyota get confirmed as a returning inclusion. NFS Heat and other non GT racing games can also include Toyota as a free expansion/DLC as well once the license has expired. The question is, when?

 

[Dobermann92]

I hope this is only for road cars, although Dirt Rally and Dirt Rally 2.0 doesn't have Toyota rally cars either, which is sad.

 

[MrCrynox]

I hope this is only for road cars, although Dirt Rally and Dirt Rally 2.0 doesn't have Toyota rally cars either, which is sad.

Which unfortunately says it all. As Kylotonn only has one more game under contract I do wonder if the Yaris will be in WRC9,

 

[HarVee]

Someone needs to go to the Toyota Twitter and tell them, in no uncertain terms:
Exclusive licenses with companies from your home country CAN and WILL be classified as Borderline Racism. Basically, by trying to keep their image afloat by not allowing European/American publishers to hold the license, they’re actually destroying it.

It's not racism that's at play with Toyota, it's nationalism. Toyota has a clear bias for Japanese developers/publishers.

Hey don't forget the Celica, GT86, AE86 and MR2.

They were also within the NFS series, and popular in the real world for being involved in illegal street racing, with almost virtually unlimited performance enhancement, plus the fact that they are blank canvases for customization.

The celica is more known for its rally history than being a tuner car. The celica wasn't even featured that much in street racing games and street racing media until its final generation. The AE86 is more known for being thrown down a mountain in a cartoon than actual racing.

 

[Dobermann92]

The AE86 is more knwon for being thrown down a mountain in a cartoon than actual racing.

 

[FoRiZon]

Seems that Toyota itself has rather unfavorable view on video games in general.

 

[HarVee]

I'm not. But thanks for playing.

 

[Just The Stig]

Well, I mean...TECHNICALLY...it is one. But I feel the same as you.

 

[SVPSkins]

Don't want there cars in games with Illegal street Racing and trying to move away from there Tuning Roots, yet they've released a version of the new Supra with ability to put in a 2JZ in it.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Anyways, it's pretty much confirmed PD has an exclusive license to this company (like everybody kept saying in the past despite some saying it wasn't), and that ToyotaJP has a stick up its exhaust.

Not quite. While this new update says Toyota only has a deal with PD at the time, it isn't clear if that was part of the terms — from either party — or if it's a matter of Toyota just being ultra-choosy with its licensing.

I mean, I'm still inclined to think it's the former, since as recently as FH3 another developer was keen on showcasing the brand's history (like the FJ40, '74 Corolla, and the leaked Sport 800). Plus, given gaming's increasing relevance as an additional avenue for mindshare, it does Toyota no favours to remove itself from the vast majority of the genre, as GT Sport is just a small fraction of it.

Hindsight is 20/20, after all: I'm sure the whole Porsche/EA fiasco has taught companies to not publicly acknowledge an exclusivity deal, if they do in fact have one.

 

[GTV0819]

Don't want there cars in games with Illegal street Racing and trying to move away from there Tuning Roots, yet they've released a version of the new Supra with ability to put in a 2JZ in it.

Seems like Toyota is trying to be cynical nowadays.

 

[Coolsy101]

Should’ve just said that from the beginning. Polyphony secured an exclusive license. Now the question is how long? Probably never know til another game showcases a Toyota.

They actually don't have an exclusive license. There's a mobile game in Japan called "Drift Spirits" that has Toyota cars being continually added AND they can be customised too. You can check out the car list here: https://driftspirits.fandom.com/wiki/Toyota

 

[DriftShock]

It's not racism that's at play with Toyota, it's nationalism. Toyota has a clear bias for Japanese developers/publishers.

Would you ever expect Ford to do something so stupid? No! Nissan? No! Honda? No! (Honda did skip Street Racing Games for a while, but it was for a valid reason [Their Tuning shop kept getting raided by police because of its association with Street Racing])

 

[HarVee]

What's Ford, Nissan and Honda have to do with Toyota's nationalism?

But to answer your question, no I wouldn't. Most wouldn't expect international brands to play nationalism openly. But Toyota seemingly doesn't care.

 

[DriftShock]

What's Ford, Nissan and Honda have to do with Toyota's nationalism?

But to answer your question, no I wouldn't. Most wouldn't expect international brands to play nationalism openly. But Toyota seemingly doesn't care.

Yeah maybe those three weren’t the best examples
But I agree. Land Rover tried it, and lost more money than they saved; so they just started selling their cars around the world again

 

[McLaren]

They actually don't have an exclusive license. There's a mobile game in Japan called "Drift Spirits" that has Toyota cars being continually added AND they can be customised too. You can check out the car list here: https://driftspirits.fandom.com/wiki/Toyota

Thought someone in the thread said these kind of games managed exemption through a toon/manga clause in licensing.

Edit* That game has apparently been available since 2013 with updates with the Wiki stating it was updated regularly til 2016. That likely plays a strong factor with its licensing.

 

[Coolsy101]

Thought someone in the thread said these kind of games managed exemption through a toon/manga clause in licensing.

Edit* That game has apparently been available since 2013 with updates with the Wiki stating it was updated regularly til 2016. That likely plays a strong factor with its licensing.

That’s probably why. Still, Toyota JP can’t really say that they don’t want to associate their image with illegal street racing when they do just so in other games. I really hope Toyota JP realise that they’re missing out on a lot more brand exposure and that they’re hurting the fan base in one way