For decades Sony has maintained tight control over its exclusives, making sure that word retains its complete meaning. Just like Nintendo, Sony hasn't allowed its titles to hit the PC gaming market. This has been done for plenty of reasons, one of which being making sure console sales are strong.
With the PS5 seemingly an unstoppable juggernaut and the war between Sony & Microsoft cooling a little, we've seen PlayStation exclusives hit PC in recent years. The latest, God of War (2018), launched on Friday 14 January and is already Sony's biggest PC launch to date.
Which is a great sign for Gran Turismo 7 on PC.
Success breeds success
Sony's move into PC publishing doesn't seem to be slowing down. The success of God of War (2018) should be carried on by Horizon: Forbidden West later this year after it was revealed in an Nvidia leak.
With more than 70,000 concurrent players on Steam this weekend, the appetite among PC gamers for PlayStation titles is strong. Even if the title is years old, a quality game will find a new audience on PC.
If Forbidden West is another staggering success, which it likely will be, then there should be no hesitation from Sony to line up a Gran Turismo 7 PC version too.
Of course, GT7 would have some barriers to overcome if it were to be as successful as other Sony exclusives.
Competition is vicious
It's pretty easy to sell an epic RPG to PC players, what's harder is to sell a racing title in an already saturated market.
iRacing, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, and Raceroom are just a few of the PC-specific racing titles out there. Throw in the likes of Assetto Corsa, F1, and the Forza titles and you see what a crowded landscape racing is on PC.
Gran Turismo would have to compete with all of that. While it stands a very good chance of success thanks to its history and reputation, it's not the slam dunk that a huge RPG title is.
We are convinced there would be a strong market for GT7 on PC, especially if it included crossplay with PS4/PS5. However just because it should do well doesn't mean Sony will allow Gran Turismo to finally make an official move onto PC.
The title remains perhaps the biggest driving force behind gamers wanting to upgrade to a PS5. Racing games have always been the technical marvels of a new console. Used to show off the true power of the hardware. While we've had more than a year with the PS5, it's safe to say we haven't seen anything really push the console yet. Thanks to PS4 compatibility GT7 may not either, but with the DualSense controller it will be a big step forward. One that Sony may not want to share.
Gran Turismo 7 release date
Gran Turismo 7 is set to hit PS4 & PS5 on 4 March, 2022.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af0G7J3lEwc
With multiple editions, a full career mode, and the return of tuning, it looks like it will be a return to glory for the racing series.