Update: Gran Turismo 7 Is Back Online, Polyphony Digital Apologizes And Addresses Microtransactions

Update, 2:30 p.m., 3/18/22:

Gran Turismo 7 is back online after essentially being left unplayable for more than 24 hours following an earlier update. 

In a new blog post, GT7 producer Kazunori Yamauchi explains why a maintenance period that was expected to last a couple of hours lasted longer than a day. He said that right before the release of the 1.07 update, which is the one that left GT7 largely unplayable, Polyphony Digital “discovered an issue where the game would not start properly in some cases on product versions for the PS4 and PS5.” 

“This was a rare issue that was not seen during tests on the development hardware or the QA sessions prior to the release, but in order to prioritize the safety of the save data of the users, we decided to interrupt the release of the 1.07 update, and to make a 1.08 correctional update. That is the reason for the delay. My sincere apologies for the late report to everyone.” 

Yamauchi then addresses microtransactions in GT7. In update 1.07, the number of in-game credits earned for completing some tracks and races in the game was decreased, meaning it would be tougher to purchase cars. Some felt that this was to further push the microtransactions in the game, but Yamauchi says the team wants “users to enjoy lots of cars and races even without microtransactions.” 

“At the same time, the pricing of cars is an important element that conveys their value and rarity, so I do think it’s important for it to be linked with the real world prices,” he continues. “I want to make GT7 a game in which you can enjoy a variety of cars lots of different ways, and if possible would like to try to avoid a situation where a player must mechanically keep replaying certain events over and over again [players were using certain tracks to farm credits and those were the tracks targeted in the update].”

The blog post says the studio will let players know the update plans for additional content, race events, and features to “constructively resolve this” issue. 

“It pains me that I can’t explain the details regarding this at this moment, but we plan on continuing to revise GT7 so that as many players as possible can enjoy the game,” Yamauchi writes. “We would really appreciate it if everyone could watch over the growth of Gran Turismo 7 from a somewhat longer term point of view.”

The original story continues below…

Original Story, 10:22 a.m., 3/18/22:

Ah, the age of always-online games strikes again – this time, with Gran Turismo 7. 

Gran Turismo 7 requires a constant internet connection, meaning if you can’t connect online, you basically can’t play the game, save for a few modes like Music Rally. It’s unfortunate but it’s a decision Polyphony Digital chose to make with the latest Gran Turismo installment nonetheless (they did the same with GT Sport, too). The latest update for the game, Version 1.07, however, is casting a negative light on that decision because it has taken the game offline, making it mostly unplayable, for more than 24 hours. That’s another way of saying this game you spent money on is a game you can’t actually enjoy in full at the moment. 

Gran Turismo 7 went offline on March 17 and it was only supposed to be down for a couple of hours, as reported by VG247. However, a couple of hours stretched to a dozen. Now, here we are, a full day later. Most of Gran Turismo 7’s modes are still inaccessible as they remain offline.  

A big draw of Gran Turismo 7 is the ability to race against other players. That’s not possible in-game at the moment as its online functionality are still disabled. On top of that, Video Games Chronicle reports that this update makes Gran Turismo 7 even grindier than before in some ways. 

That’s because the courses that players used to farm in-game credits to purchase cars significantly more expensive in 7 than they were in Sport now dole out less credits. 

We’ll be sure to update this story when Gran Turismo 7’s online functionality is restored.

For more about the game, read Game Informer’s Gran Turismo 7 review and then check out what some of the best cars in Gran Turismo 7 would look like if Kirby ate them. Read about Sony’s AI project that outperforms professional GT drivers after that. 

[Source: VG247]

What do you make of this update debacle Polyphony Digital is currently dealing with? Let us know in the comments below!