Gran Turismo 7 will seemingly require an always-on internet connection.
Sony debuted a brand new gameplay trailer for Gran Turismo 7 last week. While players were delighted to see the return of fan-favorite features like GT Campaign mode, it was only after eagle-eyed fans scrutinized the small print on a recent post on the PlayStation Blog (thanks, Metro) did they notice that the "newly designed" mode will require an internet connection to play, as well as the Livery Editor, Scapes – the photo mode – collecting mode GT Cafe, GT Auto, and legendary circuits like Trial Mountain and High-Speed Ring, too.
Although this isn't unique to the franchise – predecessor GT Sport also required an internet connection – Sport was slightly different in that it had been positioned as a competitive racer from the outset. Gran Turismo veterans, however, may have been expecting to access the single-player campaign offline, which has not traditionally required an always-on connection.
"GT7 is both the culmination of the series which answers the expectations of GT fans throughout the years, and at the same time it is a title that marks a beginning of a difficult mission to contain the full breadth of car culture from the past into a single video game," said series creator and Polyphony Digital president, Kazunori Yamauchi.
Gran Turismo 7 will be ready to race on March 4, 2022. It's a significant slip from its original release window of 2021, but development – like so many others – was impacted and delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Sony's hoping the wait will be worth it, though; Gran Turismo 7 looks set to feature real-time shadows in line with the position of the sun courtesy of PS5 ray-tracing, incredibly detailed and hyperrealistic, weather effects, plus a diverse range of environments.
Don't forget that while it was originally only meant to release on Sony's new-gen PS5, Gran Turismo 7 now also on the way to PS4, too.