GTPlanet’s Year In Review: 2015

2015 has proven to be a year of expansion, for both Gran Turismo and GTPlanet. Gran Turismo 6 is largely complete after a little over two years on the market, and the series is set to land on Sony’s current PS4 in 2016, with an approach that will mark numerous firsts for series creator Polyphony Digital.

This year also saw a bumper crop of racing titles land, and as they were warmly received by our community, so to did we start providing blog coverage for these titles. There’s no such thing as too much racing, right? Right.

As per tradition, we’re here on the final day of the year to reflect on these changes, and look forward to the next 366, where even more are set to take place!

January

• 2015 started off with a bang for GTPlanet, when Slightly Mad Studios announced an official GTP livery for the Ruf CTR3 would be included in the game.
• Nissan’s unconventional LMP1 competitor was first earmarked for gaming at the beginning of the new year. To call the rest of the year a rollercoaster would be putting it lightly…
• A team of GT Academy graduates nab class silver at the 24 Hours of Dubai. The team consisted of Florian Strauss, Ricardo Sanchez, Nicolas Hammann, Gaetan Paletou, and Ahmed Bin-Khanen, and finished in class behind GT Academy judge Rob Barff! In other Academy news, the yearly competition expands into the Philippines.
• The Ford GT is the surprise star of the North American International Auto Show. Ford also announces a partnership with Turn 10 at the show. T10 uses the opportunity to announce Forza Motorsport 6, which features the 600+ horsepower car on its cover.
• The Alpine Vision Gran Turismo, a wild slice of futurism, is unveiled in Paris. At the same event, Kazunori accepts an innovation award on behalf of PD and GT6 for their work on the Vision GT project. Alpine doesn’t have January all to itself, as Lexus showed off their own VGT project at the end of the month: the LF-LC GT Vision GT.

February

• The Superbowl brings with it the first glimpse of Nissan’s wild GT-R LM NISMO, piloted by GT Academy wünderkind Jann Mardenborough. Jann and the very first Academy winner, Lucas Ordoñez, are named as drivers for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.
• Other GT Academy graduates bring the Nismo GT-R GT3 home on top of the podium in a hard-fought battle at the Bathurst 12 Hours.
• The ever-elusive GT6 Track Maker shows up in the most unexpected of places: a UK-based video agency. The short commercial teases the functionality of the feature, but no more.
• Bryan Heitkotter, the first US winner of GT Academy, gets a seat in the 2015 Pirelli World Challenge, piloting a Nismo GT-R GT3.
• The sizeable 1.16 update arrives for GT6. Not only does it bring fan-favourite Midfield Raceway back to the series, but also B-Spec, paintable rear spoilers, and the MINI Vision GT model. The MINI is most surprising, having only been discovered two days prior, leapfrogging the Alpine and Lexus models that had both been revealed far before it.

March

• GT Academy winners Paletou and Sanchez are scheduled to compete in the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series. Yep, you guessed it: GT3 GT-R!
• Renderings of Bertone’s wild Vision GT project show up on Facebook. Sadly, we would never get to enjoy the sci-fi looks in-game, as the design house is removed from the stable of participating companies in July.
• In brighter VGT news, those afore-mentioned Alpine and Lexus vehicles show up in Gran Turismo 6’s 1.17 update.
• GT Academy’s reach grows yet again: first Australia receives a dedicated competition, followed closely by Japan.
• Jann Mardenborough is involved in a serious accident at the Nurburgring VLN race. Suffering from a similar problem to the infamous one that affected Mercedes at Le Mans in 1999, the car left the circuit and jumped the armco. While Jann walked away, a spectator succumbed to injuries due to the accident. The circuit institutes speed limits at numerous parts of the track after this as plans for changes to improve safety are made.

April

• Once isn’t enough. Volkswagen announces a second Vision GT project, the GTI Supersport. The Supersport lands with the GT6 1.18 update, which also includes GT Academy 2015.
• Version 1.18 also brings with it an unexpected surprise, buried within the game code: the Greaves Motorsport LMP2 racer piloted by Mardenborough and Ordoñez in 2013 is found tied to a GT Academy event.
• GT Academy 2015 is launched. The setup is a bit different than previous years, with the big news being the move of race camp, from Silverstone to Yas Marina.
• Infiniti builds a real-life version of their stunning Vision Gran Turismo.

May

• As Vision GT news closed out the previous month, so it opens May: Peugeot teases their own project in the ongoing collaboration, which would go on to have a Koenigsegg-aping 1:1 power-to-weight ratio.
• Forza and Gran Turismo working together? No, not really, but Polyphony Digital hire Mike Caviezel, whose previous position was Audio Lead at Turn 10, working on Forzas 1-4.
• After a few small delays, Project CARS releases digitally on May 7.
• GT Academy champion Mark Shulzhitskiy is named as another driver for the GT-R LM NISMO, making him the third GTA grad to have his name on the car.
• Mardenborough bounces back, scoring a podium in the GP3 season opener in Spain.
• Not to be outdone, Bryan Heitkotter wins three times in a row in the PWC.
• Logitech appears to be making a comeback in the steering wheel business, as leaks hint at the introduction of the G29.
• GT Academy drivers take podiums in a variety of machinery, across the world, on the same weekend. Nissan GT-R’s at Silverstone, a Dallara Formula Three car at Okayama, and… Nissan Micras at Mont Tremblant!
• SRT teases what will become the wildest addition to the Vision GT sables: the Tomahawk.

June

• GT6 1.19 kicks off the month of June, bringing the GT-R LM NISMO and Peugeot’s Vision GT. The Nissan is featured in the final round of GT Academy, and GTPlanet offers videos and guides to help players improve their lap times.
• Assetto Corsa, the exciting PC simulator from Kunos Simulazioni, is planned for a 2016 console release, on both XBox One and PlayStation 4.
• Porsche, the manufacturer that eludes most racing games, shows up in Forza Horizon 2 as part of an expansion dedicated to the famous German marque. Turn 10 announces Porsche will also come to Forza Motorsport 6 at some point in 2016.
• Project CARS gets its first DLC pack, with five cars starring: Bentley Speed 8, Bentley Continental GT3, BMW V12 LMR, McLaren F1 GTR, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK LM.
• Kazunori Yamauchi doesn’t want to say “never” when asked about Tourist Trophy 2. He also confirms Peugeot’s 208 T16 Pikes Peak car is coming to a future Gran Turismo.
• Months before the official announcement of the title, a Croatian retailer opens preorders for “Gran Turismo Sport”. You know what they say about hindsight.
• Forza Motorsport 6 gets a release date while at E3: September 15th.
• The GT-R LM and its drivers have a gruelling weekend at Le Mans. Out of the three vehicles entered, only #22 crossed the line at the end.
• Somewhat controversially, Slightly Mad Studios opens up crowdfunding for Project CARS 2, less than two months after the first game has been released.
• GT6 1.20 update brings all the nuttiness of the 2590 hp, peacock-like SRT Tomahawk X. It also brings the two lower-spec versions of the car, with either 1007 or 1450 very healthy ponies on. GTPlanet hosts a difficult competition placing the X variant at the Nordschleife. As it was done for Mercedes-Benz the year before, the Goodood Festival of Speed gets an updated centrepiece. This time, it’s Mazda.
• Our own Andrew Evans caught up with Kazunori Yamauchi at Goodwood. Naturally, an interview took place.

July

• Forza Motorsport 6 announces the entire Formula E grid will be included in their game.
• F1 2015 launches across numerous platforms.

August

• Max Verstappen does the opposite of what we’ve seen with GT Academy, and signs to a prominent sim racing team (Team Redline).
• The winners of our Tomahawk X competition started in June receive posters signed by the team behind the cars. For the top two fastest, an additional signature showed up: Kazunori Yamauchi’s himself.
• As the last regular car pack to be released before Forza 6 arrives, the Playground Select pack for Forza Horizon 2 is free for the first week it’s made available.
• Matthew Simmons, a delivery truck driver from Brisbane, Australia, is crowned International GT Academy Champion for 2015. The good news doesn’t stop there for Matt, as we’ll find out later…
• Not content with simply writing one book, our man Andrew crafts another one, this time tailored just to GT6: The Unauthorized Player’s Guide. Digital only, we can’t run out, so it’s always in stock! He also went ahead and updated his first book, GTPedia, to 1.06.
• Bugatti first teases us, does it again, and then finally confirm their spot in the Vision GT project. A hint at the styling direction of the upcoming Chiron, the later accompanying videos start a craze when community members notice the usual GT6 watermarks have been replaced with simply “GT”.
• Jose Policarpio is our GT Academy Asia 2015 champion!
• In another bid to expand the number of racing series represented in the game, Forza 6 announces that all five manufacturers from Australia’s V8 Supercars series.
• DriveClub highlights an exclusive by being having Ferrari’s new 488 GTB before any other game could manage it on consoles.
• Not wanting to be left out, Hyundai unveil their own Vision GT car, the N 2025. Looking slightly similar to the Mazda LM55, this futuristic prototype would later show up in the game’s hidden codes.
• Sony faces a bewildering lawsuit from a flooring company upset with their logo appearing overhead on Monza.

September

• Bugatti reveals their Vision GT in full before it makes it to the stands of Frankfurt. Looking like a Veyron that’s gone to the gym with a very goal-oriented trainer, the car is never confirmed for GT6. It has a bigger role…
• The lawsuit mentioned above brought with it some supposed sales numbers for Gran Turismo 6. It was later discovered that the numbers Virag used were simply grabbed from estimate site vgchartz.com.
• Jann Mardenborough continues his march up the racing ranks, as he finds himself ensconced in a GP2 car at Monza. Roughly 20% of GP2 drivers end up graduating to the ranks of Formula 1, placing the GT Academy grad in an opportune spot.
• GTPlanet scores early access to the full version of Forza 6. What do we do? Well, we stream it, and then we review it, of course!
• Continuing the push into eSports territory for racing sims, Project CARS hosts an event at EGX 2015, with real cash on the line for serious drivers.
• Wolfgang Reip scores a huge win for GT Academy grads after taking home the gold in the Blancpain Endurance Series PRO Driver’s Championship.
• Polyphony Digital release a love letter to racing on the Nürburgring called, appropriately enough, “Fascination Nürburgring: 24 Hours of Passion”.
• It happened! The Course Maker arrived on the last day of September in the 1.21 update of Gran Turismo 6. We brought you exclusive details about the app a day early, and despite the controversial move of making the Track Path Editor tablet-only, we had a solution for that too.

October

• GTPlanet opened the Track Database. Fully integrated into our community, the database allows users to easily download others’ creations, as well as rate and discuss them. Our community has already made over 1800 tracks for people to explore, and we’ve begun a Track Of The Week feature to highlight some of our favourites.
• Work continues on the proposed Gran Turismo movie, with screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber joining the team. Their previous credits include… Battleship?!
• The PlayStation 4 gets an all-important price drop before the holiday season, undoubtedly being the final nudge some players need before committing to the system.
• The GT Academy 2015 European champion is none other than Romain Sarazin. He joins Matthew and Jose as the graduates for this year.
• GTPlanet plays host to an epic, 24 hour GT6 endurance at classic Spa Francorchamps, with ten commentators alone!
• The annual GT Awards at SEMA (where Jordan attended again this year) cause whispers when it’s discovered the winner will be added to a “Gran Turismo for PlayStation 4“. What could they mean?
• Gran Turismo Sport is announced at Paris Game Week. The newest installment in the series, the game will focus on the FIA Championships PD first announced in 2014 (and earmarked for 2015). Polyphony also put an end to speculation about sales numbers, announcing the series had topped 75 million total. Sony CEO Jim Ryan clarified that Sport is not GT7, and that he was confident PD would hit their target release date.
• Across the globe, Toyota was showing their little S-FR concept to the world. Alongside it, GT6 had the car available in-game. Sadly, PD announced there were no plans to put the car in the game for the rest of us at the time.
• DriveClub is subject to a special VR tech demo, highlighting the enhanced experience PlayStation VR can provide for the racing genre.

November

• Forza 6 does its own tribute to the late Ayrton Senna, bringing his dominating MP4/4 to the game as part of the eBay Motors Car Pack.
• Sung Kang’s widebody 240Z wins the yearly GT Awards at SEMA. Known for his role as Han in the Fast & Furious franchise, Kang’s car is destined for a PS4 iteration of Gran Turismo, though it’s not clear if that will be Sport or not.
• Need For Speed releases. It doesn’t threaten the simulation heavyweights of the genre, but proves fun enough to warrant inclusion in discussions surrounding fun arcade racers.
• Darren Cox leaves Nissan. As the man largely behind both the LMP1 and GT Academy programs, we’re left wondering what it means for both.
• Our GT6 Photomode Competitions celebrate 100 weeks!
• Racing games, and the current generation of systems that play them, receive price cuts leading up to Black Friday. We offered a buyer’s guide for those that planned to brave the crowds to pick up some of the best deals.

December

• Bryan Heitkotter received an invite to the NISMO Festival in Japan. He shared his experiences with GTPlanet, and only made us massively jealous!
• The bonkers Koenigsegg One:1 lands in Forza 6’s final DLC of the year.
• GT6 receives a tiny patch as part of version 1.22. This is the last update of the year for the game, fixing a small glitch that allowed players to drive on custom tracks in an existing championship.
• Matt Simmons, the 2015 International GT Academy champion, impresses his coaches so much that he’s fast-tracked for 2016, skipping the usual 24 Hours of Dubai to get ready for an entire race season in Nissan’s GT3 program.
• DriveClub showcases the AMG GT3 machine in an expansion focusing on the machinery from Affalterbach, wrapping up a much-improved year for the game.
• Gran Turismo 6 celebrates its second birthday! We covered the developments the game has seen in more detail here.
• Need For Speed goes for the nostalgia jugular with a lot of retro designs and music in a new game update. It’s not a bad idea, really: who wouldn’t love GT1 menu music in 2016’s GT Sport?
• Polyphony update their corporate website. With it, they break down the series’ 76+ million sales in even more detail: GT6 totals 4.71 million, which may be lower than previous Gran Turismo installments, but is still higher than any other console competitor.
• Project CARS ends 2015 on version 7.0. The last DLC pack of the year focuses on French manufacturer Renault, with mostly new cars punctuated by one 70’s machine.
• Nissan ends the year on a sad note by dropping their LMP1 program, less than a year after unveiling it to the public. This leaves a hole in the top class moving into 2016.
• Some Super GT drivers leak images from Polyphony’s notorious Christmas party, showing what could very possibly be concept art for GT Sport. Merry Christmas, indeed!
• It is announced that PlayStation VR will require its own external processing unit to work with PlayStation 4. This is beneficial if GT Sport is to maintain the series’ tradition of outstanding visuals, while also acting as a major selling point for Sony’s VR push.

Looking forward to the new year, games that are already with us like Project CARS and Forza 6 will continue to grow with post-release support. New games, like Assetto Corsa’s console release, will also greet us. Of course, the big draw of 2016 for many of us will be Gran Turismo Sport. With a beta set to be available to the public in the first half of the year, and the full title following before the end of 2016, this promises to be a banner year for all things Gran Turismo.

GTPlanet is set to have a big year, too. Our 15th anniversary arrives in a few weeks, and we’ve got quite the celebration lined up. I won’t spill the beans quite yet, but we’re excited to share it with you. As ever, thank you all for being a part of the community, and helping to make it what it is. We couldn’t do it without you. Have a safe and happy New Years!

GT6 Photomode image by Mattpro.

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