'Gran Turismo Sport' release drifts into 2017

By Gabe Gurwin Published August 31, 2016

Gran Turismo Sport was originally scheduled to be one of the PlayStation 4’s biggest games this holiday season, but it appears that the racing simulator needs a little more time with the pit crew, as it has been delayed until 2017.

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Polyphony Digital founder Kazunori Yamauchi shared the news this morning on the PlayStation Blog, stressing that his team did not want to risk releasing a mediocre product in order to meet the game’s November 15 launch date.

“From the start this title has been one of our most ambitious undertakings be using the latest technologies, such as physics-based rendering and sound simulations,” Yamauchi says. “We do not want to compromise the experience in any way.”

Gran Turismo Sport is designed to take the competitive racing simulator to a wider, less experienced audience, with more tutorial options, more realistic physics, and an offline campaign mode that “provides a hands-on experience to allow even beginners to learn driving skills form scratch.” The game’s “Gran Turismo Sport Live” mode also allows players to turn into top competitive racers, in a manner designed to mimic live television. The mode will even offer commentary and “course cameras.”

The last entry in the Gran Turismo series was 2013’s PlayStation 3-exclusive Gran Turismo 6. The game received fairly positive reviews, and we complimented its physics improvements and number of available vehicles, but also felt that it was “less ambitious than its predecessor.”

This leaves one other major racing game this holiday season, but if you only own a PlayStation 4, you’ll have to buy a new console as well. Forza Horizon 3 offers a much different experience than Gran Turismo or even the main Forza Motorsport games, focusing on open-world exploration and challenges, and will only be available on Xbox One and PC.

Gran Turismo Sport arrives in 2017. No concrete release date has been provided.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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