We’re now less than a month until the release of Gran Turismo 7, arguably one of the most anticipated racing games in years. Gran Turismo Sport, the last game in the series, was released back in 2017, so it’s been an agonisingly long wait for a proper GT sequel.
As such, many dedicated players will have poured hundreds of hours into GT Sport. In GT7, you won’t lose that progress.
In a post on the official Gran Turismo website, Polyphony has confirmed that data from GT Sport will be transferred to new servers in the run-up to GT7. This means stats and data from GT Sport will be carried over to GT7.
GT Sport player data will be transferred to GT7
Data transferred from GT Sport include the Driver Rating, Sportsmanship Rating, liveries (car, helmet and suit) and decals. Not all data can be transferred, though. Polyphony has confirmed that Scapes, race photos and replays from GT Sport will not be carried over.
While all decals will be transferred, only liveries created after 22 December 2017 at 4:30am (UTC) and shared as “Open to All” will carry over to GT7.
These transfers start automatically on 15 February and will “continue afterwards with the data being updated at regular intervals.” Since start times may vary, Polyphony says there may be delays before the data appears in GT7. You'll still be able to use ratings, liveries, and decals in GT Sport after 15 February, however.
Should these transfers be optional?
This is an unusual move. Most new games require you to start from scratch online. The news hasn't gone down well with some people, who argue that games like Call of Duty don't transfer your progress when a new game comes out. But the key problem here is that it doesn’t sound like these transfers are optional.
For some players, this will reduce the sense of progression. After all, a big part of Gran Turismo’s appeal is the grind and satisfaction of working your way up. But if you played GT Sport and want to restart your online progress in GT7 to work your way up the rankings, you can’t.
On the other hand, these transfers will be convenient for some players. It's fair to say a lot of returning players who have already spent hundreds of hours grinding online in GT Sport won't want want to lose their progress and start all over again in GT7.
Either way, Polyphony should have given players a choice. Still, at least less experienced players won’t be at a disadvantage. Presumably, Sport Mode races will still be ranked, grouping players with similar skill levels together.
Polyphony hasn’t shared many details about GT7’s online component. Sport Mode still hasn’t been shown either, but it sounds like it will identical to GT Sport, retaining the same Driver and Sportsmanship system. Effectively, this means GT7 will be GT Sport with a single-player add-on.
You can find a detailed breakdown of how these transfers will work below.
Ratings
・The status of the Driver Rating (DR) and Sportsmanship Rating (SR) that will be carried over will be their status as of February 15 (Tues). In some cases there may be some delay to the start date of these transfers.
・These transferred ratings will be applied at the release of Gran Turismo 7.
・These transferred ratings will be applied on the Test Season, an Online Championship planned to be held after the release of Gran Turismo 7.
Liveries and Decals
・Only Liveries created after 22 December 2017 at 4:30am (UTC) and that have been shared as 'Open to All' at the time of the transfer will be carried over;
・All Decals content will be transferred, whether it is shared as 'Open to All', 'Open to Friends', or not shared at all from My Library;
・Likes and Comments associated to this User Generated Content will not be carried over;
・Content that has been transferred will need to be re-shared in the settings in order for them to be visible to other players;
・Some Liveries and Decals content might not be transferable as not compatible with GT7's new specifications;
・Some transferred designs might not be exactly identical due to the difference in the paintable areas of GT7 compared to GT Sport;
・A maximum of 100 transferred Car Liveries will be displayed at a time in the 'GT Sport Liveries' menu found under GT Auto → Car Customization → Livery Editor → Open Design. If more than 100 car Liveries are transferred, new Liveries will be displayed as old ones are imported or deleted. Also, when importing you will need to change your current car to the target car;
・It is possible to further edit Car Liveries once they are imported;
・Helmet/Suit Liveries will be saved in My Items after being imported;
・Decals set to be transferred will automatically be added to My Items;
・It is possible to verify the content ready to be transferred to GT7 from the menus below(*):
・Car Livery: GT Auto → Car Customisation → Livery Editor → Open Design → All Cars
・Helmet/Suit Livery: GT Auto → Driving Gear → Helmet Livery/Racing Suit Livery → Open Design
・Decals: Set Showcase → My Library → My Items → Content Type to ‘Decals’
*1: If you have Livery data that contains a Paint applied to the Car Livery, you will need enough in-game Credits at the time of import for the Paint to be transferred.
*2: Wheels will not be carried over to Gran Turismo 7 with the Car Liveries. Only the paint color applied to the wheel will be transferred.
Ratings, Liveries, and Decal content that is set to be transferred to GT7 can still be used in ‘Gran Turismo Sport’ after the 15 February.