Feature: What to Expect from Sony's Gran Turismo Event

Sony’s set to shine its headlights on the future of the Gran Turismo franchise tomorrow. The platform holder, tailed by a procession of high-profile automotive manufacturers, will descend on the legendary British race course Silverstone in order to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the simulation series. The event should hopefully put the brakes on a number of rumours regarding the future of the brand, while simultaneously giving us a glimpse at what the coming years will hold for PlayStation’s most popular property. But with the preparatory wheels already in motion behind-the-scenes, what news should you expect over the next 24 hours?

Fill up on the future

Gran Turismo 6 will almost certainly be revealed tomorrow. There’s been far too much fuel invested into the rumour tank for the unannounced sequel to not park itself in the headlines. The big question is whether the racer will be for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, or Vita. Speculation appears to point to the platform holder’s current generation console, which could have some fascinating implications on the manufacturer’s impending machine. However, there’s also a chance that the brand could be racing onto the Vita, with executives within Sony teasing the imminent announcement of an “amazingly big title”.

We’d put an outside bet on all three. Polyphony Digital has promised to “provide an update on the future of Gran Turismo” at the event, which sounds like it’s going to comprise more than a single game. As such, it’s feasible that we could learn about new titles for all of Sony’s primary platforms. While we don’t necessarily expect the PS4 to secure a full-blown sequel at this early stage, an HD Concept-esque technology demo running on the updated hardware would certainly give the manufacturer a nice nitrous boost to take into E3, especially now that Evolution Studios has confirmed that it’s moving in a different direction with DriveClub.

Reversing through the years

Fifteen years ago to the month, Polyphony Digital released the first Gran Turismo game in both Europe and North America. It seems fitting, then, that the company will use tomorrow’s event to confirm that the original game is coming to the PlayStation Network as a PSone Classic. Not only would this coincide with Europe’s weekly PlayStation Store update – meaning that it could feasibly go live while hype is at an all time high – but it would also give newcomers a timely opportunity to re-explore the origins of the series. Granted, a re-release of the legendary title would require negotiations with multiple manufacturers, but with Sony promising the presence of Ford, Toyota, and many more at tomorrow’s event, it doesn’t seem entirely unreasonable.

The announcement would certainly be well received, seeing as the original Gran Turismo remains one of the most requested PSone Classics of all time. It currently has more than 127 votes on the PlayStation Blog’s popular ‘Share’ leaderboard, and has been a frequent topic of conversation ever since Sony rolled out its retro initiative.

Flagging down the rest

The fact that tomorrow's event is set to take place at Silverstone is likely to be significant, seeing as Sony was keen to point out in its press release that the legendary British race track has never featured in a Gran Turismo title before. Last year, Polyphony Digital was spotted scanning the track for use in a future game. As such, we’re confident that tomorrow’s event will bring news of the circuit’s inclusion in whatever it is that the company’s working on, which is likely to have repercussions on GT Academy. Since the start of the competition, the course has played host to the Boot Camp phase of the contest, so the fact that candidates may soon be able to practice on the same layout would be a big deal.

Speaking of which, we expect to learn lots more about the popular annual contest itself, with first details on this year’s competition. The platform holder traditionally tends to open the contest in May, so we suspect that we’re mere weeks away from getting the green light on this year’s challenge. Furthermore, with so many manufacturers in attendance, it would be an opportune moment for Polyphony Digital to announce some new licensing deals, further securing the series’ relevance within the automotive industry.

What are you hoping to be revealed at tomorrow’s Gran Turismo anniversary event? Let us know in the comments section and poll below.