Gran Turismo: Polyphony Digital Inc. and FIA to Form Long-term Partnership

[Steve_OS]

The creators of the Gran Turismo series, Polyphony Digital, announced today a new long-term partnership with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA’s role as the governing body of motor sport worldwide, and the representative of almost 80 million road and track users from 141 countries on five continents, will help grow the direct relationship between the millions of fans of Gran Turismo and the real-world of motor sport. In short: this is going to be a pretty big deal for Gran Turismo fans.

The first thing gamers will notice from this newfound partnership is that Gran Turismo 6 will begin to feature FIA-certified content very soon.

To mark the start of this collaboration, Gran Turismo®6 will become the first-ever video game to feature FIA-certified content. Gran Turismo 6 has been granted an FIA certification for four of the game’s world-famous tracks. The track inspection for each was conducted by FIA officials who visited PDI’s development studio in Tokyo, where Gran Turismo 6 track models were accurately compared to FIA standards. Other tracks included in Gran Turismo 6 will be subject to inspection in order to obtain certification by the FIA in the near future.

As a second key element of the partnership, FIA & PDI plan to launch an official FIA Online Championship in 2015 with the intention of offering the large number of Gran Turismo players and motor sport fans the opportunity to engage with real motor sport.

Jean Todt, President of the FIA said: “This innovative new partnership will ensure that millions of Gran Turismo and motor sport fans can race on even more detailed tracks at home. The Gran Turismo series has played an important role in helping to attract a new fan base to motor sport. With the input of FIA in the development of the upcoming FIA Online Championship, Gran Turismo 6 will now offer an experience even closer to the real world of motor sport. We are also excited to be working closely with Polyphony Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment in the future to find new ways to continue to make motor sport more accessible to millions of fans that share a passion for racing.”

Polyphony Digital President and Gran Turismo franchise Creator, Kazunori Yamauchi: “We are incredibly proud for the Gran Turismo Series to be officially certified by the governing body of world motorsports. In the over 15 year history of Gran Turismo, this has to be the biggest accolade we have ever received. I believe this will be a major step to forward our mission to connect our virtual and real racing worlds in a full circle, thereby expanding the population of car and motorsports enthusiasts in the world."

Jacques Berger, Head of Safety at the FIA said: “It was not until we completed the tests between our track data and the game’s track data that we fully appreciated the level of work and attention to detail that goes into the development of Gran Turismo 6. It was not just the tracks that have been precisely mapped out, but also the surrounding landscapes such as the run-off areas, grandstands and buildings.”

Look for the new FIA branded content very soon from Polyphony.

[bcruise]

Tell me I wasn't the only one who saw that as FIFA and was throughly confused.

If it means more authentic tracks coming to the GT series, I'm all for it. Other than that I'm not really sure what this does for gamers, except to tell us what we already know - that PD puts an incredible amount of effort into making the tracks as close to their real-life counterparts as possible.