March 4, 2024, marks exactly two years since the global launch of Gran Turismo 7, back at the buds of spring, 2022.
As we noted in our first anniversary retrospective, the first 12 months was something of a turbulent time. That was particularly the case over the first month, which saw a lot of erosion of goodwill and relations dwindling to the point of review-bombing and a rare open letter from series creator Kazunori Yamauchi to the fans in response.
By the end of the first year though, the title was back on an upward swing. We’d just seen the first introduction of the new, machine-learning programmed Sophy AI system into GT7 (on PS5) in a limited capacity for player testing, the addition of game-wide PSVR2 support for PS5, and the surprise return of the Grand Valley course in a newly redesigned layout.
That was quite the flourish for year one, and set the stage for fan expectation for the game’s second full year on sale.
On that front, it has been something of a mixed bag, with some high points and some periods of fan disquiet returning.
Overall, additional game content has been coming at a slower rate than before, and that’s particularly evident in terms of circuits. Indeed in the last 12 months, only one new circuit location has been added to GT7 and that’s a fictional, offroad, ice race course in Canada.
That’s not the only track content, as the Nurburgring location received two new layouts in late-March 2023, but compared to Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta, and Grand Valley — as well as the Spa 24 layout — in the first year it’s a little thin on the ground. Notably the game has never had a new circuit location outside of North America…
New cars have also come at a slightly lower rate than before: 32 in year two compared to 35 in year one. Initially things did look promising, with a third successive five-car update in 1.31 — about the maximum we’d expect from Yamauchi’s previous statements about the team being capable of producing up to 60 cars a year — but it soon tailed off. In fact three of the 12 months had no content update at all.
However November 2023 did see what was billed as the biggest update to the game yet — and for PS4 players who didn’t see the benefits of Sophy or PSVR2, we’d concur.
That added the most cars in any one update thus far, at seven, plus the Lake Louise track, but more importantly brought some changes to the single-player experience. We saw new “Master” licenses and rewards, the new Weekly Challenge playlist feature (currently on a week’s break!), and a new Dashboard and Event Directory to freshen up the look of the game.
Price payouts were also adjusted in Arcade Mode, leading to a hastily patched exploit, but overall it did breathe a little life into the largely denigrated game economy — particularly as the update also brought the ability to buy engines and special parts rather than relying on chance from roulette tickets. That just leaves the Invitation system…
PS5 owners again got the chance to race with GT Sophy, but this time in a more expansive and permanent offering at more tracks and with far more cars than before — though we’ve yet to see this increase to further tracks four months on from this initial launch.
Live events returned in a grander fashion in 2023 too, following the cautious Salzburg Showdown and Monaco Final in late-2022. This year’s Showdown moved to Amsterdam for the first time, and was open to paying members of the public, with the format repeated for the World Final in its new Barcelona location.
That latter event also saw the debut of the team-based Nations Cup event — won by Team Spain — and, for the first time in four years, a live vehicle unveiling. In fact it was two, as both Genesis and, unusually, jeweler Bulgari pulled the covers off their Vision Gran Turismo cars. Both are now available in the game.
Amsterdam meanwhile saw one of the most extraordinary things in GT history, hosting a live movie premiere for the Gran Turismo film. Although not directly connected to GT7, it was nonetheless a landmark moment in the game’s second year.
In the past couple of weeks we’ve also seen that rare occasion of a brand-new official wheel for the game. It’s called the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Extreme, and represents a step up over the original Fanatec Gran Turismo DD wheel in every department — with a price tag to match!
Although the lack of new race tracks particularly, and recent gaps in content delivery, may cause some pessimism, GT7’s second year has been pretty solid. What can its third year bring? We’ll have to wait and see…
