Gran Turismo 6 is a racing simulation video game created in 2013 by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth main game and the eleventh overall in the Gran Turismo series. The game was released worldwide on December 6, 2013. It received good reviews and sold well. New features included more cars and tracks, better options for customizing cars, and partnerships with the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Ayrton Senna Institute, the FIA, and NASCAR. Gran Turismo 6 was the first game in the series to include officially FIA-certified content.
Development
In November 2011, Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of the Gran Turismo series, shared that he and his team at Polyphony Digital were working on Gran Turismo 6. In March 2012, workers from the company were seen at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, taking photos and scanning the race track. They said Mount Panorama would be part of Gran Turismo 6, making it the first Australian track in the series.
In February 2013, Michael Denny, a senior leader at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said Gran Turismo 6 would only be available for the PlayStation 3, even though the PlayStation 4 had already been introduced.
Gran Turismo 6 was officially announced on May 15, 2013, during a celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Gran Turismo series held at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom. Kazunori Yamauchi explained that the game would include 71 track layouts across 33 locations, 1,200 cars, a more flexible engine for better graphics, and a simpler menu with faster loading. A test version of the game’s improved physics was shown to the public when GT Academy 2013 was released on the PlayStation Store on July 2, 2013.
Developers said the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb course would be included in the game. This course, which is 1.16 miles long and runs through the estate of the Earl of March, hosts an annual event where many types of cars compete to set fast times. The variety of vehicles and the large audience inspired the developers to include the track. Yamauchi said, “I have always admired the Festival of Speed and the work Lord March has done. I love the wide range of cars shown there, from rare and valuable to modern family cars. Goodwood represents all types of driving and racing, which matches our goals for Gran Turismo. It is special that we are working together.” A demo of the game was available at the event, letting visitors try to beat Nick Heidfeld’s 41.6-second record set in 1999 using a Formula 1 car.
At the 2013 Gamescom event in August, it was announced that Brands Hatch would be added to the game, along with the return of Apricot Hill Raceway, a popular fictional track missing from Gran Turismo 5. New cars added included the Pagani Huayra, Fisker Karma, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7, BMW Z8, Aston Martin One-77, Audi R18, KTM X-Bow, and the 1971 Lunar Roving Vehicle from the Apollo 15 mission. Nissan’s DeltaWing was initially included but later removed due to licensing problems. This decision was changed on December 2, with the car returning in its 2012 and 2013 versions, plus the last-minute addition of the Honda NSX Concept (available as both an Acura and a Honda) and the 2008 World Rally Championship cars from Gran Turismo 5.
The global launch event for Gran Turismo 6 took place in Spain at Ronda and the nearby Circuito Ascari in December 2013. The city honored Yamauchi by naming a street after him during the event.
Polyphony Digital helped design Toyota’s FT-1 concept car by first creating a model of it in Gran Turismo 5 and later in Gran Turismo 6. This allowed Toyota’s designers to see how the car would look and move, helping them gain approval from the company’s leaders. The car was released as a free download for Gran Turismo 6 on January 14, along with other Vision Gran Turismo cars.
F1 drivers Sebastian Vettel and Bruno Senna tested the game.
The online servers for Gran Turismo 6 were closed on March 28, 2018. After this date, players could no longer buy the game or its downloadable content directly from Sony’s PlayStation Store.
Features
In October 2013, the game developers formed a long-term agreement with the Ayrton Senna Institute. A portion of the money earned from selling the game would be given to the institute, which helps provide education to people in need in Brazil. In May 2014, a free update added a feature called "Ayrton Senna Tribute." This feature showed the racing career of Ayrton Senna and included the Lotus 97T, the car he drove in the 1985 Formula One season.
The game includes 30 tracks and 1,200 cars to choose from. New tracks in the series include Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Ascari Race Resort, several stadium-based tracks, and tracks near the Matterhorn, such as one close to Riffelsee.
Some tracks have changing weather and time of day. The game also has a dynamic celestial sphere that shows the stars in the night sky accurately. Players can even drive on the moon near Hadley Rille using the Lunar Rover.
The Top Gear test track, which was in Gran Turismo 5, is not included in this game. This is because the Top Gear show partnered with the Forza Motorsport franchise for Xbox consoles.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the series, Gran Turismo 6 includes "Vision Gran Turismo," a project with concept cars designed by automobile companies, sportswear brands like Air Jordan and Nike, and design firms such as Zagato.
No downloadable content (DLC) packs were sold, but several free cars were added after the game launched. These include the BMW M4, the Toyota FT-1 concept car, and Mario Andretti’s 1948 Hudson stock car.
On September 30, 2015, an app called Track Path Editor was released on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. This app let players create tracks and upload them to play on PlayStation 3. It supported KML and GPX files, allowed importing photos or bitmap images, and traced real-life driving routes using GPS. Players could use these tracks in arcade races, time trials, and share them online. The app received positive reviews from journalists. However, the app was removed from the App Store when the online servers were closed.
The game supports up to six different views that can be shown on six or more PlayStation 3 consoles. Two left views, two right views, a server view (front with dials), and a front view without dials can be copied onto an extra PS3 console if they are connected to the same network.
Reception
Gran Turismo 6 received "generally favorable" reviews from Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews. The game was praised for its focus on realism and the large number of cars included. However, some critics pointed out that there were not enough improvements from the previous version, and the game had bugs and glitches when it first launched. It also had more emphasis on online play and microtransactions. Eurogamer highlighted the game's large collection of cars and the many tracks available. GamesRadar praised the graphics and realism. Polygon appreciated the variety of gameplay, and IGN said it was an improvement over the earlier version, Gran Turismo 5. Hardcore Gamer noted that the game was "surprisingly addictive" and had lasting appeal, calling it "arguably the gold standard of the genre." In a direct comparison with Forza 5, a next-generation game, Gran Turismo 6 performed better. A similar test by USGamer concluded that Gran Turismo 6 was more engaging, with better representation of car types and handling, as well as a wide variety of cars, tracks, racing formats, and challenges.
During the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Gran Turismo 6 for "Racing Game of the Year."
In Japan, during the week of its launch, Gran Turismo 6 sold 204,784 physical copies within two days. The game in second place sold 117,432 copies for the entire week. These sales nearly doubled the sales of the PlayStation 3 console compared to the previous week. According to Famitsu's 2013 Top 100 list, which ranks the top 100 Japanese retail software sales for 2013, Gran Turismo 6 ranked number 24 with 282,686 physical retail sales in Japan. It was the 7th best-selling game of 2015 on the PlayStation Store. In December 2014, the game received a gold award for selling half a million copies in Japan.
Gran Turismo 6 was the best-selling game in France, Germany, Norway, Finland, and New Zealand. It was the second best-selling game in Australia and Italy, the third best-selling in the UK, Sweden, Denmark, and Greece, and the fourth best-selling in Spain and South Africa. It was the 42nd highest-selling game of 2013 across all formats in the UK and the top-selling single-format racing game of that year. The game sold less well in North America initially, but it still reached the top ten.
Celebrity endorsements
Sebastian Vettel, a four-time Formula One world champion, is included in the game. The game also features Mario Andretti's 1948 Hudson Hornet. NASCAR champion Matt Kenseth is shown driving one of the new cars in the game. Replica helmets and coveralls used by drivers such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ayrton Senna, Jimmie Johnson, Petter Solberg, and Mikko Hirvonen are part of the game. Jay Leno helped the game's creators add his 1000-horsepower Oldsmobile Toronado to the game.