French ad pointed to Gran Turismo 7 in the first half of 2021

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Come along, because this is one of those paddock rumors every racing fan loves: in early November 2020, a French advertisement carried a piece of information Sony had not yet given officially. In the Gran Turismo 7 section, the phrase “Sortie prévue pour la première moitié de 2021” appeared, something like “release planned for the first half of 2021”.

The video with the excerpt was published by the channel GT ELIEANOR and was picked up by sites like GamingBolt. Since no other Sony source confirmed the window, the information was treated as a rumor: it could be an error in the promotional material, and the advice was to stay calm, dear heart.

Still, the idea made sense. Sony was planning a strong first year for the PS5, with the Horizon sequel and the new God of War already announced for 2021, and the last Gran Turismo, GT Sport, was from 2017. Gran Turismo 7 had been revealed at the PS5 showcase on June 11, 2020, with the promise of aiming for 4K and 60 frames per second and using the new console’s features. What a cute piece of news for those counting the days!

Polyphony Digital’s game also marked the return of the classic campaign mode, the GT Simulation Mode, with a driving school, parts shop, used car dealership and the GT Café, where the player progresses through “menu books” that unlock features, tracks and cars.

What came next

The first half of 2021 did not pan out. Because of the pandemic’s impact on development, Gran Turismo 7 was delayed to 2022 and came out on March 4, 2022 for PS4 and PS5, with “generally favorable” reviews on Metacritic. Players, however, complained about the microtransactions and the need to repeat races to earn credits. Since then, the game has gained PS VR2 support, the Sophy artificial intelligence and big updates called Spec.