This month could be a bit interesting. 1.23 brought a lot of controversial changes and additions, and depending on how strong the reactions are and how quick (or if) the dust settles we could see some of them get retracted.
I don’t see the microtransactions going away, unless Sony/PD goes maximum backpedal and removes them and offers refunds. I just don’t think the change is invasive or economy-breaking enough, nor do I think the reaction is strong enough for the change to take place.
I don’t think the Mercedes F1 will recieve an editable livery. It’s likely that due to the premium nature of F1, Merc wouldn’t want sponsors to be adjusted or changed and then presented in a particularly realistic and believable format, especially if people start doing Ferrari mockups. It’s possible that they could open up parts of the editor, i.e. custom body and wheel paint, maybe even some decal integration if they keep sponsor and imported decals locked. However that still runs the risk of someone drawing up brand logos out of the shapes and tools that’d still be available.
“Daily” races could actually return to the daily format. This is one area that PD can directly track and correlate player response fairly easily - if people don’t like some sort of change made in sport mode, player count will start dropping like flies. If PD sees such a decline in this first week or two of the weekly “daily” race format, they may release an emergency hot fix to keep the player retention going.
As far as new content goes? More League and Circuit Experiece events, Scapes, and Museum additions are pretty much a given, cars and tracks are extremely likely, it’s much more a question of “what” rather than “if” (and also probably some “when”’s).
There’s a few things we know about and can expect to arrive at some point - though, there’s no way of knowing if any of this will arrive in August:
- More SEMA cars. Bruce Leven’s Ford was seen getting scanned back in November, and I recall Sung Kang’s 240z and one of the many Camaros also being reported to have been scanned or at least visited by PD’s staff in some way.
- Deep Forest is/was being developed, and is/was planned to be added later on.
- There’s a 24 hour esports endurance event to coincide with the real race being held at Catalunya in early September, it sounds like it’ll be somewhat like the Nürburgring event back in May. The track could be added around that time or a little before, but it’s also possible that a track from the existing roster will be picked.
- A couple years back we saw footage of what appeared to be an alpha build of Autopolis running on some special version of GT6. Beyond that we know nothing else of its future development plans.
- Rain and snow tires are available in the game, but we currently have no use for them. Wet and snow conditions could be added at some point, but we don’t know when. That said, I can’t imagine a snow track or additional conditions on the rally courses being added in the summer.
Clearly a majority of the car pack content has had returning premium models from GT5&6. Almost every pack has featured older JDM cars, an entry or two from Lamborghini and Ferrari, and a selection of some sort of sub-theme (JDM, muscle, Super GT, Toyota, Group C, etc.). There’s a lot of fan favorites that haven’t yet returned, and a lot of models that could fill some nice gaps, and several that in general seem likely to return, so here’s what I predict could land in the next content update:
Acura/Honda - OG NSX
Audi - ‘03 TT
BMW - Z8
Chevy - ‘69 Camaro
Dodge - ‘08 Challenger (also the Touring car variant, possibly for Gr. 4)
Ferrari - F430
Ferrari - Dino
Fiat/Abarth - ‘08 500 (actually not sure which model would be more likely, I personally lean towards the Fiat as it would flesh out the brand a little more)
Ford - Mk. IV Race Car
Honda - ‘97 Civic
Honda - ‘06 S2000
Lamborghini - ‘09 Murcielago LP 640
Lamborghini - ‘08 Gallardo (personally feel like we’d get only one Lamborghini, in which case I’d lean more towards the Murci)
Lancia - Stratos
Lancia - Delta
Lexus - LFA
Mazda - 1st Gen MX-5
Mercedes - ‘54 300 SL
Mercedes - SLR McLaren
Nissan - 370Z
Renault - ‘66 R8 Gordini
Shelby - Daytona Coupe
Suzuki - Cappuccino (could be the ‘91 or ‘95)
Toyota - Prius (any generation)
Volkswagen - ‘66 Beetle
It’s likely we’ll see more standard cars return in new “super-premium” glory, but I really have no clue what may be next on the list to recieve such a treatment. There’s also several modern cars that have a mysterious absence in GT Sport, especially considering the seemingly close relationship PD seem to have with many of the brands. Namely the Chiron, 488, P1 or 720S, and the current-gen Ford GT. Porsche also has a small amount of offerings regardless of era. I’d put these in a list of predictions, but I was surprised none were there at launch, and more so that they still haven’t shown up in any car packs - so I can’t really say I suddenly expect them to pop up now.
I think it’s possible that Spa could arrive in August. The Belgian GP lands conveniently right at the end of the month, just about when one would expect an update, so the stars seem to be aligning. However - I had similar thoughts with the 24hr Blancpain race. We’ve only had one real world track arrive alongside a major racing event (Le Mans), everything else has just dropped when it’s dropped - PD hasn’t really set any precedent here. I’ll say Spa is likely, but I wouldn’t bank all of my money on it.