What exactly do we know about Gran Turismo 7?
Gran Turismo 7 is now looming on the horizon. The return of the great one, racing game royalty, in this modern hardware era. With more competition in the racing space than ever — the versatile Forza franchise on the Xbox, the ultra-realistic iRacing on PC — can Gran Turismo 7 stand apart?
If previous iterations are any indication, yes, absolutely. Here’s what we know for sure about Gran Turismo 7.
Does it have a release date?
It does. Gran Turismo 7 launches in Australia on March 4, 2022. It will launch simultaneously on the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Obviously, it will run best on the PS5, but if you’ve not been able to find one just yet, you can rest assured you won’t be left in the dust.
Does it have a rating in Australia yet?
Though it doesn’t share its ratings process, what we know is that Gran Turismo 7 was awarded a G rating by the Austrailan Board of Classification.
What do we know about the gameplay?
If you’ve ever played a Gran Turismo game before, you’ll know that it is a serious motorsport simulator. Japanese studio Polyphony Digital has always taken a no-nonsense approach to GT‘s design. The focus is on the simulation’s accuracy and detail. Where other studios might award points for flashy moves or especially daring driving, Gran Turismo waves it away. It wants you to focus on the drive at hand. Gran Turismo 7 looks like it continues this tradition.
As we can see in this Deep Forest Raceway gameplay trailer, simplicity in everything but racing is key. The HUD is understated, and designed to avoid distracting the player. It features a combination of fictional tracks and real-world circuits recreated in exhaustive detail. Deep Forest Raceway ranks among the most popular fictional tracks, a staple of the series since its first iteration on the original PlayStation.
What about the multiplayer?
Gran Turismo 7 features local and online multiplayer. The game supports two-player local races and lobbies of up to 20 players online. You will need an active PlayStation Plus subscription to play Gran Turismo 7 online.
Online play in GT7 is optional, not mandatory. Unlike games like Forza Horizon that hope to blend single and multiplayer components into a single shared space, Gran Turismo still likes to keep these facets separated. Like we said, Polyphony Digital’s approach is no-nonsense, always.
How many tracks are there?
Right now, PlayStation has confirmed “over 90 track routes”, and eagle-eyed fans will note that many of them have been carried over from GT Sport. There are, however, a number of new and returning tracks to mention. Below are the full lists of circuits officially confirmed by PlayStation at the time of writing. Fans have spotted others through glimpses and icons in official trailers, but they have not been officially confirmed. Just this morning (13 January, 2022), Polyphony Digital confirmed that fan favourite circuit, Daytona International Speedway would return to GT7.
Fictional circuits:
- Alsace Village
- Autodrome Lago Maggiore
- Blue Moon Bay Speedway
- BB Raceway
- Circuit Sainte-Croix
- Colorado Springs
- Deep Forest Raceway
- Dragon Trail
- Fishermans Ranch
- High Speed Ring
- Kyoto Driving Park
- Northern Isle Speedway
- Sardegna Road/Sardegna Windmills
- Special Stage Route X
- Tokyo Expressway
- Trial Mountain
Real world circuits:
- Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos)
- Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
- Autopolis
- Brands Hatch
- Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
- Circuit de la Sarthe
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- Daytona International Speedway
- Fuji International Circuit
- Goodwood Motor Circuit
- Mount Panorama
- Nurburgring
- Red Bull Ring
- Suzuka Circuit
- Tsukuba Circuit
- WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
- Willow Springs
What about the cars?
Surprising no-one, there are a lot of cars in Gran Turismo 7. PlayStation has confirmed that GT7 will launch with over 420 cars for players to enjoy.
There are already a lot of cars confirmed through trailers, but no definitive list of vehicles that will be available to purchase or unlock at launch. Fansite GTPlanet.net has compiled an exhaustive list from every car seen in each of the game’s trailers. From 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Ams to Mercedes AMG Formula 1 cars, there is a vehicle for everyone, no matter their level or sphere of interest in motorsport.
Got any trailers for me?
There’s a few! Here’s the trailer from when the game was formally announced:
And here’s the progress update trailer that ran at last year’s PlayStation Showcase.
You can check out the Deep Forest trailer in the sections above, but here’s the Powered By PS5 spot that dropped only a few weeks ago. This one is all about those gorgeous, gorgeous visuals.
Gran Turismo 7 launches March 4, 2022, exclusively on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.
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