Arguably PlayStation VR’s biggest game of the holiday season is no longer coming out this holiday season.
Gran Turismo Sport, the long-anticipated debut of Polyphony Digital’s racing franchise on PlayStation 4, has been delayed. Originally due to release on November 15th 2016, the game has now been pushed back to an unknown date that will almost certainly mean it misses a release this year. The news was confirmed by Polyphony CEO Kazunori Yamauchi over on the PlayStation Blog, where he reasoned that the team needed more time to perfect the racing simulator and ensure it was the best entry in the series yet.
It’s a big blow to the PS4’s holiday line-up but arguably an even bigger one to PlayStation VR, which the game is set to integrate. The full experience will be playable with the headset, and was one of the biggest of around 50 games that are due to launch on PS VR before the end of the year. Playing Gran Turismo in VR is something of a dream for many driving game fans and now they’ll have to wait that bit longer to do it.
“GT Sport will continue to be shown at several gaming events around the world,” Yamauchi wrote. “I hope everyone has the opportunity to experience first-hand the yet-to-be revealed cutting edge experiences that will be achieved by GT Sport. Thank you for all your continued support.” The game is yet to showcase its VR support, but perhaps now it will get some time in the spotlight before its full launch.
Still, considering the reputation the franchise has picked up for delayed releases, we can’t really say we’re surprised to see this. Gran Turismo 5 suffered multiple push backs during development, to the point fans were worried it may never release. The last entry in the series, Gran Turismo 6, was released in late 2013, so it’s been some time now since we last saw a full entry.
PS VR fans should also take some solace in the fact that PS4’s other popular racing simulation, DriveClub, is also due to hit the headset with a new version simply titled DriveClub VR. It’s set to be a launch title for the device on October 13th.
