Gran Turismo 7 is still accelerating four years on, and not even Polyphony saw it coming

Some games run out of steam within a few months, while others seem to have a tank that never empties. Gran Turismo 7 clearly belongs in the second group. As reported by Vandal, Polyphony Digital's driving sim, which launched in March 2022 on PS4 and PS5, is still selling well and bringing in new players more than four years after release. The most striking part is who's saying it: Kazunori Yamauchi himself, creator of the series and head of the studio, admits that not even they expected such sustained performance.

This matters because it explains something the community has been noticing for a while: the steady stream of free updates with new cars, tracks and modes hasn't stopped. In an interview with the outlet Traxion, Yamauchi directly links that commercial success to the decision to keep expanding the game. In other words, as long as people keep buying and playing it, Polyphony will keep refuelling it. For anyone who competes in or creates content around GT7, that's a very clear sign of stability in the medium term.

What you need to know

• Gran Turismo 7 launched on PS4 and PS5 in March 2022 and is still getting new content more than four years later.
• Kazunori Yamauchi says the game continues to sell very well and its community keeps growing.
• The studio itself admits it didn't expect to sustain those results for so long.
• Updates remain free and include new cars, tracks and game modes.
• The comments come from an interview with Traxion, as reported by Vandal.

A live-service game in all but name

What's interesting about Gran Turismo 7 is that it has ended up working as a long-haul game without ever being sold under that label. We're not talking about seasons with a battle pass or a roadmap announced with great fanfare, but something more traditional: a game you buy once that gradually grows with new content. Yamauchi sums it up in one simple line, "Gran Turismo 7 continues to sell very well", and everything else follows from that.

The fact that the head of the studio openly admits the success took them by surprise also says a lot. It's rare for a developer to acknowledge that their own forecasts fell short, and in this case it helps explain why support has lasted longer than many imagined when the game came out. This wasn't necessarily the plan; it's the players' response that has set the pace.

Who it affects

It mainly affects three groups. First, veteran players, who keep finding reasons to come back with every update. Second, newcomers, who get a far more complete game than the one at launch without paying extra for those additions. And third, the competitive scene and content creators, who need a living game to sustain leagues, challenges, guides and streams. A sim that keeps growing is a sim worth investing hours in.

Our take

Here at Underworld Lordz, we see this as good news, with some caveats. The upside is obvious: a game that keeps its player base and its support going for years is gold for any competitive community. In-house leagues, tournaments among friends and hotlapping sessions make sense when you know the game won't be abandoned next month. And new content arriving at no extra cost is something we should applaud more often in an industry that loves to slice everything up.

That said, we also need to be critical. Polyphony admitting it didn't expect this success raises the question of how much of what we're seeing is planned and how much is improvised. For a competitive player, predictability matters: knowing when changes are coming, which tracks enter the rotation or how cars are balanced. Long-term support is fantastic, but long-term support that's well communicated is even better, and there's always room for improvement there.

For content creators, the message is clear: GT7 isn't a thing of the past. Every update is an opportunity to analyse, compare lap times, set up challenges or show the community how to make the most of what's new. If you create sim racing content, ignoring it at this point would mean passing up a niche that, according to its own creators, is still growing.

What do you think?

Gran Turismo 7 is still on track, and Polyphony has no plans to lift off the throttle as long as sales keep up. We see a solid foundation for competing and creating, although we'd like to see a bit more visible planning. Are you still playing GT7, did you drop it a while ago, or would you be up for coming back to set up a league with the team? Drop by the team chat or our Discord and tell us what you think.