Dear Sony/Polyphony Digital

From as young as I can remember, the Gran Turismo series played a significant role in forming me into the person I am today. I think I speak for many other life-long fans when I say that the Online requirement to play Gran Turismo 7’s simulation mode has left many of us feeling alienated and over-looked, simply in the pursuit of pleasing the FIA’s regulations for eSport competition.

Whilst we were disappointed in the online-only components of Gran Turismo Sport, we could (kind of) understand the reasoning behind this, in the hope that the next mainline entry into the series would shy away from the online competitive aspect of GT Sport.

It doesn’t make sense that you would advertise Gran Turismo 7 as a single-player experience in this context as it is deeply misleading to consumer’s not reading the fine print. This is yet another example of your (Sony) on-going complacency when it comes to video game preservation.

May I provide a number of possible solutions to this issue:

1. Gran Turismo 7 should have BOTH an offline AND online save function, meaning that gamers would not have to comply with online regulations if they don’t want to.

2. Gran Turismo 7 should release with 2 different versions: the standard edition of the game and an “eSports Edition” of the game, available exclusively through the PlayStation Network. This would appease and separate the old-school Gran Turismo fans from the eSport players of the game. If players already own Gran Turismo 7, they should be allowed to download the “eSports Edition” for free.

3. Separate the Simulation Mode from the Online Mode of Gran Turismo 7, do not mix the two together. Separate the progress between both modes so that there won’t be as much possibilities of online hacking (which should be moderated by a human being anyways during the FIA events).

4. Keep using Gran Turismo Sport for online competition, whilst allowing Gran Turismo 7 to be the game offline users can enjoy. I understand that this may be an expensive endeavour, but it is a much better option for everybody than what you are currently providing.

5. When the servers for Gran Turismo Sport and 7 officially shut down years down the line, patch the games so that online saving is no longer required and players can finally save their games offline. From my own experience of playing Gran Turismo Sport, the online component never bothered me in the moment. I am much more concerned with the longevity of these games and preserving them for future generations, much like how many of us Gran Turismo fans still go back and play 2, 3 and 4 all of these years later.

I understand that some of the solutions that I have provided may be expensive and may also delay the game past the projected March 4th release date. However I and many other gamers would be much happier to spend our money and support Sony/Polyphony Digital with a game that will not have a life-expectancy. 

This petition was written with the deepest love and passion for Gran Turismo in mind. I was deeply disappointed when discovering the online requirements and I want to see both Sony and Polyphony Digital doing better than this.

I want to be excited for Gran Turismo 7 and I want to buy the game at retail, however you are making it very difficult for me to do so.

Thank you,

Dylan.