The turning point of Gran Turismo 7 is here with the new badge of Spec II arriving with it.
Gran Turismo, when it comes to updates, is somewhat generous in terms of content that is being added. Sometimes we can see drought in Gran Turismo 7, and sometimes the content gets pushed heavily affecting the gameplay. Compared to the first time we saw Gran Turismo 7, the current version is entirely different with a physics engine and the way it’s meant to be played. Back in the day, Polyphony used to update their beloved titles in chunks, giving spaces between each update. Nowadays it is a bit different than we we used to have.
Polyphony Digital is keeping its current Gran Turismo title up to date every single month, releasing new cars and balance changes in the last week of the month. However, Polyphony decided to skip past October and turned their focus to a November release, and it is for a good reason. The last time Polyphony Digital pulled this name off, Gran Turismo was getting ready to be released on PlayStation 3. Namely, their Gran Turismo 5: Prologue had different variations from Prologue to Prologue spec III, meaning it was the updated version. Gran Turismo 7 just had the same conversion too with their October update, making it Gran Turismo 7 Spec II.
What exactly the Spec II, also known as the October update, will add to Gran Turismo 7? Players can expect to find 7 cars that are both brand new to the series and cars that are returning from previous games, a new snow-covered rally track called Lake Lousie with three different layouts, a fresh look onto the progression screen, new master-level license test for people who want to be the best driver out there, new café menus for the single player content, lounges- or wait rooms for online racing rooms, four-people split-screen racing, weekly challenges with dedicated cars and tracks around the world and more.
These new contents will actually change Gran Turismo 7’s current formula of updates consisting of releasing cars over and over. New and original tracks have been requested a lot, same as the weekly challenges, more license tests, and changes to how online lobbies work. Polyphony seems to focus on player feedback this time around instead of just finding custom award-winning cars to be added to the game.
The reason behind the wait and sudden drop of a lot of content could be the answer to Microsoft’s new title, Forza Motorsport. Recently, Turn10 Studios brought back the motorsport side of the Forza instead of the arcade-inspired, open-world spinoff, Forza Horizon series. Motorsport focused on the realism of the racing and this forced Polyphony to create unique and requested content for Gran Turismo 7. One other factor might be the slowdown after the movie’s release, though that era must have died out, now that Polyphony is back to business.
