Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi first indicated in 2013 that a new Gran Turismo for PlayStation 4 was coming, possibly "in a year or two." He later indicated a release in 2016 or 2017. The game was officially announced at the 2015 Paris Games Week. Polyphony Digital expected substantially improved gameplay from the PlayStation 4's processing power. A beta scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2016 was cancelled to avoid further delays; by August 2016 the game was pushed to 2017. A closed beta for selected users in the United States and Europe ran on 17 March 2017.
Kamui Kobayashi provided technical assistance. Gran Turismo Sport marked the first appearance of Porsche vehicles in a Gran Turismo title, following the expiration of Electronic Arts' exclusive Porsche licensing. Three-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton served as the "maestro" of the series; his Time Trial Challenge DLC pack was released on 28 November 2019.
The North American release date was 17 October 2017. A free demo launched on 9 October for five days, allowing limited progress to carry over to the full release; it included arcade, campaign, and sport modes and the livery editor and Scapes photo mode. PlayStation Plus members could pre-load on 7 October. VR support was not included in the demo. Over one million people participated in the beta. Lotus had been planned for the game — the Lotus Evora was playable in the closed beta — but was removed from the final release due to licensing difficulties.
By January 2018, Polyphony Digital added a traditional single-player mode via a free update, akin to previous entries in the series. Further single-player content was added in subsequent free updates; professional reviews written at launch do not reflect this content.
Gran Turismo Sport features two primary modes: Sport Mode and Arcade Mode. Saving progress requires an online connection, unlike predecessors. The game omits a dynamic weather system and day-night cycle present in Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6, though players can set the time of day before a race. PlayStation VR support is limited to a dedicated VR Tour Mode; a subsequent update also added VR time trial play.
Cars are divided into seven categories: Gr. 1 (LMP and Group C race cars, including some Vision Gran Turismo homologation variants), Gr. 2 (Silhouette racing cars, including Super GT GT500 cars), Gr. 3 (GT3, GTE/GT2, and GT1 race cars), Gr. 4 (GT4 race cars), Gr. B (Group B rally cars), N Class (road cars spanning from the Mazda Roadster S to the Bugatti Veyron 16.4, split into sub-categories by power output), and Gr. X (concept and Vision Gran Turismo cars and others not fitting above categories).
Sport Mode features three daily races that reset weekly. Each player is assigned a Driver Rating (DR) based on skill and a Sportsmanship Rating (SR) based on on-track conduct. The highest generally available ratings are A+ for DR and S for SR; a special S DR is reserved for the top 200 players worldwide. The Driver Rating cannot exceed the Sportsmanship Rating. Within each category, a balance of performance (BoP) system equalises cars by adjusting weight and power.
Gran Turismo Sport hosts two FIA-managed annual championships: the Nations Cup, in which players represent their countries, and the Manufacturers Cup, in which players represent automobile marques. Championship winners are honoured at the FIA's annual prize-giving ceremony in Paris.
In the inaugural 2018 FIA GT Sport Nations Cup, Americas regional champion Igor Fraga (Brazil) won the title, with European regional champion Mikail Hizal (Germany) second and Asia-Oceania regional finalist Cody Nikola Latkovski (Australia) third. The 2018 Manufacturers Cup was won by Lexus, represented by Tyrell Meadows (USA), Vincent Rigaud (France), and Kanata Kawakami (Japan). Toyota and Aston Martin took second and third respectively. The World Finals in Monaco were streamed live, exceeding three million viewers across multiple channels.
Gran Turismo Sport received "generally favorable" reviews according to Metacritic. Eurogamer's Martin Robinson described it as a departure from past games, with a reduced car collection and sharper emphasis on competitive online driving, calling it "possibly the most focused, directly enjoyable game Polyphony Digital has put out since the heady days of Gran Turismo 3." He praised the improved sound design and the livery editor. Eurogamer later ranked it 21st in their "Top 50 Games of 2017."
IGN found the garage and track selection small relative to rival racing games but described Sport Mode as "serious, sensible, and well-structured." Luke Reilly highlighted the Sportsmanship Rating for rewarding clean racing over time. Electronic Gaming Monthly's Ray Carsillo praised the car handling as "easily the strongest aspect of the game" but criticised the always-online saving requirement, awarding the game 6/10. Game Revolution's Jason Faulkner noted strong car recreation and handling but found the car and track lists sparse compared to Forza and Project CARS 2, and lamented the reduced single-player content. GamesRadar's Justin Towell awarded 4/5, citing superb tracks, solid controls, and handling nuance; he considered the single-player "pedestrian" but called the FIA-recognised online modes the game's main selling point.
In Game Informer's Reader's Choice Best of 2017, the game placed second for Best Racing Game. It was also nominated in the same category at IGN's Best of 2017.
Gran Turismo Sport topped the UK all-formats physical sales chart for one week, outselling Forza Motorsport 7 by nearly three times. It also reached number one in Japan and New Zealand and number two in Australia. In its Japanese launch week it sold 150,286 copies. The game reached number one on the Japanese download chart, number two in Europe, and number five in the United States. By May 2018 worldwide sales were approximately 3.3 million; by December 2018 the game had around 7.5 million players; by June 2019 estimated sales reached eight million copies.
All online services were permanently shut down on 31 January 2024. Add-on content was delisted from the PlayStation Store on 1 December 2023, and the game itself was delisted on 1 January 2024. All offline modes remain playable, including previously purchased DLC, and the mandatory internet connection requirement was removed.
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