Kazunori Yamauchi talks to Esquire magazine's Henry Farrar-Hockley about creating Gran Turismo 5, the ultimate driving game.
The biggest surge in player numbers came after the release of Gran Turismo 7 Spec II in November, the game’s largest and most significant content update since it was released in March of 2022.
“When we released the Spec II update, the number of active users jumped up to double of what it was before that,” Yamauchi-san revealed. “I’ve heard in the video game industry that is quite rare.”
Spec II introduced seven new cars, an all-new snowy rally track, new single-player content, a new rotating set of “Weekly Challenges”, new license tests, four-player split screen, Photomode and Scapes enhancements, and the introduction of the all-new AI system, Gran Turismo Sophy 2.0, as a special mode in the game.
That's Xbox language right there....quick...let's make a dozen articles about how the game is super duper successful
It does seem rather odd choice of wording. Usually they tout specific numbers, or something to that effect.
I think the point he is making is that even though the game is old (likely sold very well) it's still making records for active users. I can see two reasons why; PSVR2 is now by far the best way to play the game as of this year, and Spec II just launched which brings a lot more stuff to do, expending peoples play time. I can see why he's interested in the reaction here. Deserved IMO.
They don't reveal sales directly, but the series sold over 90m in March of 2022. It was estimated that the game had sold 5.5 million at that time, but the series has historically had long legs. When Spec II launched it was pulled back into the top 20 for example.
Dont think you got my point.
If this was an xbox game it would receive so many articles about its success based purely on active user.
No insulting the game just pointing out the hypocrisy.
More than 5 million units. That was announced late last year or early this year (2023).
No surprise, ps5 selling and the game is most beautiful and approachable racing sim today.
I think people are probably enjoying Sophy, if they release their next game with it featuring as a core component they're on to a winner imo.
Offline racing against an AI that acts like an intelligent human is perfection for a lot of people.
Player counts are important for a game with LS elements. This much is known even Sony knows this. Of course it's important for a game like this.
Yea, it's especially nice when your player counts are high because you were able to sell millions of copies of your game.
The latest free update for Sony’s idiosyncratic racing game has helped the Gran Turismo series continue its popularity, according to its lead, Kazunori Yamauchi.
Sophy is wonderful. I hope they can just turn it on for all races though.
This is somehow the game I have put the most time into on my ps5 so far. It also convinced me to add a psvr2 and wheel, which I am both happy I have and angry I bought at the same time lol
Same here. Just finished a race a few mins ago and came here lol. I came 6th and even then such a fantastic race. Except for 1 or 2 most racers were really clean and respectful.
Planning to get the wheel (sold it to a friend) again along with psvr2.
Series Producer Kazunori Yamauchi has let slip that Gran Turismo 7's next update will arrive the week commencing 30th November 2023. Here are the seven cars, revealed, set to be included.
Agreed but so hard to complain when every update is free! Also, what tracks? Basically every great track is already in there.
I want more city/urban tracks. Seattle and Rome would both be great starts!
And it doesn't need to be free! I'd GLADLY pay for a DLC track pack!
I see at least one dodge challenger. One Renault. One Porsche 911 of some sort, And one possible Skyline
This one is gonna be good, I think GT fans have been waiting for this one for months now... fully expect a new track in here, and hopefully some significant single player events/missions.
Some new configurations to Sport Mode would be awesome too. Give us a reason to use these amazing new cars!
The 190E Evo 2 is such a cool addition... with the Alfa and BMW E30 M3, we can now do full-blown 1992 DTM races.
And the LFA....for obvious reasons....awesome.
4 daily races (weekly races in fact) please. Or keep the 3. And have 1 rotating one daily.
Good interview, nothing said about the release date, but still Its good to hear what Mr. Yamauchi feels about his product.
If this game is not perfect, and in the need of any patches in the first 4 months, it might be considered a bust by some fans. I hope this game is perfect, but he should have at least gave fans a beta to let us test some of the bugs out.
Kazunori team haves years of experience and they also have a team of testers,this man is nothing more than a pro on his work,so no beta needed!
"*This article appears in the December issue of Esquire Magazine.
*Gran Turismo 5 (Sony/Polyphony Digital) is out in December on PS3. "
hmmmm
is such a down to earth humble man. No wonder he is such a respected man world wide.