Gran Turismo Sport gets microtransactions to buy cars

The latest update of the racing game Gran Turismo has introduced microtransactions, among other things. Players can own more than 200 different cars by purchasing them with real money. Only the very best cars are excluded from this.

In the English-language PlayStation Store, players can purchase a variety of sports cars, such as the Ferrari Enzo for $3 or the Honda Civic Type R for $1. All cars cost a minimum of $1 and a maximum of 3 and can only be purchased as long as they cost less than 2 million in-game credits. This change, which patch 1.23 introduces, is already live in Asia and the US; in other parts of the world, it will be available on August 2.

The introduction of microtransactions in Gran Turismo Sport is remarkable, as the CEO of developer Polyphony Digital in 2017 indicated during an interview that no microtransactions would be added, as was the case with previous titles in the series.

Polyphony Digital says in so many words that there is no pay-to-win situation, partly because the very best vehicles can still only be purchased with in-game credits. So drivers still have to show their performance on the racetracks in order to get their hands on the most special cars.

The company says that making its more than 200 cars available as DLC addresses the needs of players who are busy with work or have just started the racing game, and don’t have as much time to unlock the cars through a lot of racing.