Gran Turismo 7 Not Likely for 2014

Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi's previous estimation that Gran Turismo 7 for the PlayStation 4 could be released in 2014 was a little too optimistic, he has now admitted. "We are working on the title," Yamauchi told Eurogamer. "I don't think it'll make this year!"

Yamauchi also confirmed that Polyphony is moving forward on the full version of Gran Turismo 7, not a Prologue iteration like the developer did for Gran Turismo 5.

In addition, Yamauchi said standard cars dating back to Gran Turismo's PS2 era will appear in Gran Turismo 7, but you can expect some of these to be overhauled for the PS4 with greater detail and more functionality. "I doubt that we'll be throwing away the standard cars," Yamauchi said. "Each car has its own fans. So I think we'll hang on to the archive. In the meanwhile, some of those cars we may be able to make into Premium cars as they become available--but basically we're more focused on increasing the number of premium cars."

Yamauchi is currently participating in a Reddit AMA, answering questions about the beloved PlayStation racing franchise and where it's headed in the future. One fan asked if GT7 would include an expanded photo mode, and Yamauchi said this is a focus for the game.

"In PS4, I'm going to try to make sure that there's a photo mode that can satisfy any connoisseur of photography and you can really look forward to that," he said. "Because as a photographer, I'm really not satisfied with what we have yet."

Yamauchi also responded to a criticism that there's not enough new content in PlayStation 3 title Gran Turismo 6. A fan said they expected to see monthly expansions with new cars and tracks, but Yamauchi replied by saying this was never a guarantee.

"I think there might be a misunderstanding there. I think I said 'almost' every month. I also didn't say 'DLC' per se, but that there would be an update almost every month," Yamauchi said. "On average we're going through one to two updates per month. So I don't think I have broken any promises. I think somewhere along the lines someone may have contorted my words."

Another fan asked Yamauchi what Gran Turismo 10 might look like. He said that despite some initial concerns about the potential upside for advancements to video game technology, he's now convinced that the future will be full of impressive technical achievements in games.

"So regarding the next generation PS4 and beyond, there's always ongoing research going forward at Polyphony Digital and Sony," Yamauchi said. "There might be some technologies that may change the world and until recently I was thinking that video games might reach a saturation point but I found out that there's much more to come and much more to look forward to in terms of technology of the future--not that I can discuss any details right now."

Though it sounds like there won't be a new Gran Turismo game out this year for PS4, Sony's Evolution Studios will release socially focused racing game Driveclub on October 7. Another racing game, The Crew from Ubisoft, is also launching on the PS4 this fall.