Polyphony surprised 2015 Paris Games Week attendees when it teased its next racing sim Gran Turismo Sport in late October. The latest title in the Gran Turismo franchise was initially announced for a 2016 release. However, the team at Polyphony have been suspiciously quiet ever since creator Kazunori Yamauchi unveiled the trailer four months ago.
What's more, a public beta is expected ahead of launch, although the timing depends on who you ask: Kazunori announced that a beta will arrive in early 2016 in the game's reveal. PlayStation blog reported that the beta will arrive in spring. As we approach mid-March without any news updates regarding the beta, anxious Gran Turismo speculators believe the game will be delayed.
Via GTPlanet, a translation of a podcast from French gaming site Gameblog.fr revealed some interesting details regarding the progress of Gran Turismo Sport. According to French reporter Cyril Drevet, the release date is "complicated" because "something" failed to meet a supposed March deadline and that the game is unlikely to arrive by the end of 2016.
Despite the disappointing (though not completely unexpected) news, Drevet did share some positive notes regarding the level of evolution that Gran Turismo Sport will deliver over the aging Gran Turismo 6: "No, I’m quite sure it’s going to be a true GT7 – (correcting self) It’s not called that. But I’m quite sure that it’s really going to be dedicated to eSports because of the FIA partnership.”
While it won't be a full-fledged Gran Turismo 7, Drevet assures it will not be a rewrapped GT6 either. The focus of Gran Turismo Sport is to simply delivery a racing league experience in collaboration with the official FIA motorsports body. If the game ultimately performs as it is intended, then we should expect to see the next professional racing driver to emerge from Polyphony's game-changing incubator.
Stay tuned as we learn more about the upcoming Gran Turismo Sport and its expected 2017 launch.
