How GT Sport is Bridging the Gap from Gamer to Race Car Driver

How GT Sport is Bridging the Gap from Gamer to Race Car Driver: If you’ve been around video games for the past two decades, you’ve likely heard of Gran Turismo, Italian for grand touring. GT is a racing video game series developed specifically for Sony Playstation. What makes GT such a unique series is its focus on the extremely realistic representation and performance of racing vehicles, most of which are actually licensed replicas of real-life vehicles.

This best-selling video game franchise on the Sony brand, with about 72.6 million units sold since its debut in 1997, has also led to the GT Academy. This is a driver discovery and development program started back in 2008 by Sony, Nissan Europe, and Polyphony Digital (the development studio behind GT). In essence, this revolutionary and visionary program turns video game racers and GT fans into real-world race car drivers.

Here’s how it works: People qualify for the GT Academy via online qualifiers within the video game. Then, the top qualifiers go on to the national finals of their respective countries. The winners of each country next make the trip to the UK for race camp and the final selection. The overall winner gets put through a thorough driver-development program conceived by Nissan, with the goal to train and license them into professional race car drivers competing in races all across the globe.

Have You Always Dreamed of Being a Race Car Driver?

As a result, the GT Academy has produced notable professional racers like Jordan Tresson, Jann Mardenborough, and Lucas Ordonez, all of whom have contributed to the world of motorsports.

Now, the next entry in this vaunted series, GT Sport, is set to take things up another level.

An indication of this is the FIA’s (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) partnership with GT Sport and its intention to officially ratify the GT Online Championship at its upcoming World Motorsport Council gathering. Another is series creator Kazunori Yamauchi’s assertion that GT Sport is a new era in this franchise. As a result, GT Sport is doing more than any prior entry in the franchise to legitimately bridge the gap from fan-boy racer to real-life pro.

In terms of sheer gaming, GT Sport features a host of new features that will please fans, whether they’re budding race car drivers or just enjoy a great racing game. These include:

• For the first time ever in GT, playable Porsche cars
• 177 cars overall
• 27 configurations in 19 unique locations for racing

A revolutionary title like this provides impact beyond the gaming industry.

Not only does this title encourage more wannabe racers to try to break into professional racing–thanks to the endorsement by the FIA—but it also presents a slew of opportunities for small businesses looking to build products and services around this game.

That could be in the form of sponsorship opportunities, especially for undiscovered racers who are just racing online now, but could be tomorrow’s Jann Mardenborough. There are also opportunities to produce actual gear for racers, whether that’s racing wheels, seats and clothing, or services related to racing, like full-body detailing and paint jobs.

Any mention of products related to Gran Turismo wouldn’t be complete without referencing the new Thrustmaster T-GT, the high-end steering wheel that’s just been released especially for GT Sport. Players will enjoy a leather-wrapped wheel and exact force feedback torque even in longer races.

Overall, the Gran Turismo series has provided its legions of fans with fun and competitive escapism for two decades. GT’s immersive and realistic experience to date has really set the bar high.   Will GT Sport set the bar even higher and deliver everything GT fans have been waiting for with baited breath?  We cannot wait to find out!

Author: Marc Schenker

As a copywriter extraordinaire, I continually work with big, well-known brands like Shopify, Autodesk and Envato to boost these companies’ conversions and sales through persuasive and high-quality ad writing. I can do the same for your marketing needs, whether you’re a small, medium or big business. Contact me today, so we can figure out how to begin an awesome collaboration!

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