It’s been a quarter of a century since the first release of the Gran Turismo series. Over that time it’s grown in popularity, scale, and depth. Now, the series creator and CEO of Polyphony Digital has penned a letter to fans celebrating the immense accomplishment.
Gran Turismo the racing game series was first released in 1997 but its genesis actually began back in 1992. That’s when Kazunori Yamauchi created the original project plan for the game. In 1994, he was at the helm of another game, Motor Toon Grand Prix. Three years later, many of the underlying physics models from MTGP made their way into the original Gran Turismo.
Today, 25 years later, the Gran Turismo series has sold more than 90 million copies. As Kaz rightly points out, there are few video game franchises in the world that have kept their title and team over the same length of time. He credits just about everyone he can for the success including the media, the folks at Sony Playstation, and retailers too.
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Unsurprisingly, his greatest thanks go straight to the many fans that have made this game franchise the resounding success that it is. “Above all else, I can’t ever thank enough the GT users and people of the GT community who have played our new titles, which at times could be said to have been very experimental,” he says.
Kaz also says that “the pursuit of beauty” is the motivation behind the creation of Gran Turismo. That motivation is clearly seen throughout each title. While the features, sounds, and physics engines often caught criticism from the public, Gran Turismo’s graphics are rarely questioned.
On a personal note, I can tell you that I wouldn’t be here writing this article if not for Gran Turismo. It sparked my personal passion for cars, modifying, and tuning. As one of the millions around the world with similar stories, I’d like to think that we have at least another 25 years of GT games ahead.
It sounds like Kaz and the team at Polyphony Digital have the same goal. ” We have newfound determination to continue our progress into the future with a strong sense of purpose,” he says near the end of the letter. We can’t wait to see what’s next.