Digital created Gran Turismo Sport with ambitions for a strong esports ecosystem. According to a report from Spanish site SoyMotor last week, creator Kazunori Yamauchi is prepared to take the idea even further. Yamauchi visited Spain in October to organize a GT Sport esports event for Sept. 2018. The esports event is said to be a 24-hour LAN event that coincides with the 24H Barcelona endurance race. In fact, hosting the GT Sport competition is a venue located right above Catalunya’s pit paddock.
“I feel Barcelona as something native, it’s as if I lived the atmosphere of my hometown,” Yamauchi said to SoyMotor. “I would like it to be an opportunity to continue to strengthen the ties that unite us.”
Although Yamauchi visited Barcelona back in October, it appears the esports event is still in its early stages of planning. Requirements for registration have yet to be announced, but we expect participants will be chosen via online challenges open to GT Sport players across the world.
As the 24H Barcelona is an FIA event, the collaboration with GT Sport is natural. However, there's one major caveat that also hints at what may make its way to the game in the future—the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is unavailable in GT Sport at this time. Could the famous Catalunya race track arrive to GT Planet in a future DLC?
What's more, a 24-hour event also suggests GT Sport may finally offer something players have desperately requested from the very beginning—dynamic day/night and dynamic weather change. These elements were found in Gran Turismo 6 at launch, but has been surprisingly absent from GT Sport at this time.
At any rate, any sign that suggests Polyphony Digital will fill GT Sport with additional circuits, as well as dynamic weather and day/night, are certainly welcome, even if we have to wait until next September, though I'd rather not have to wait that long.
What other race tracks would you like to see in Gran Turismo Sport? What other cars or features? Let us know in the comment section below.
