Andrew Evans

A post on the official PlayStation Blog has detailed what PlayStation 5 users can expect from the system’s backward compatibility functions. The article, from Sony’s senior vice-president for platform planning and management, Hideaki Nishino, reveals precisely how the feature will function.

Although we feared it may not happen at all, thanks to the massive shake-up in the 2020 calendar, the Gran Turismo Sport FIA Online Championship will reach a conclusion and crown a winner after all.

There was a lot to take in if you were watching the official PlayStation 5 teardown video yesterday, not least the sheer size of the thing. However there was also a blink-and-you’ll-miss it moment that could prove significant, if not immediately then certainly across the console’s lifespan.

By this time next month we’ll probably be playing DIRT 5 for ourselves. With that November 6 launch date just around the corner, Codemasters is continuing to release new footage of the game — and despite all the videos so far, it’s still revealing new cars in new classes, and new locations.

There’s another set of new Time Trials starting in GT Sport, and taking us through the next two weeks. After some recent outings on dirt roads, it’s a return to two paved-surface events for the new set of trials, and a couple of very high performance motors to get to grips with.

If, like us, you’re ticking days off your calendar, you won’t need reminding that it’s 36 days until the PlayStation 5 launches (or 43 if you live in Europe). For a console that has been so secret for so long, Sony has started the promotional push with some vigor.

McLaren has shown off its nearly finished new hybrid supercar, as it enters the final stages of its pre-production development and testing phase. The car, still wrapped in its testing camo, is a pretty major step for McLaren, as it represents a number of firsts — most notable of which is the brand’s first full production hybrid.

Probably the number one question in our community — and the first one we’re asked by anyone in the real world — is when Gran Turismo 7 is coming out. We still don’t know, but another article on the official PlayStation Blog seems to have dropped a hint that it’s sooner rather than later.

GT Sport’s first world champion Igor Fraga has put in an eye-catching performance during the Formula 3 post-season test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Making his debut for his new Hitech team, for which he’ll drive in 2021, Fraga completed almost 150 laps, and recorded the fifth fastest lap of anyone during the two-day test.

Fans of Criterion Games’ classic Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit are in for a treat next month, as a remastered version heads to current-gen consoles. The game, appropriately called Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, lands on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 6, with a version for the Nintendo Switch arriving a week later on November 13.

You’ll be racking up the air miles in GT Sport this week, as the newest set of Daily Races will see you jetting around the globe to three real-world race tracks — on three different continents.

You might remember a little while back that Tom Brooks, the Voice of Gran Turismo Sport, was starting out on a motorsport career. Tom, who not only provides the narration for many of the in-game videos but also acts as the presenter of the Gran Turismo live events, wanted to get racing himself and set out to combine that with his natural talent for talking about it for a video series on Youtube.

According to a social media post from a UK-based Japanese car specialist, Codemasters has been capturing some details of the Autozam AZ-1 for an upcoming game.

Fans hoping for another look at the next game in the long-running Need for Speed series may not have all that much longer to wait. Something — although we’re not quite sure what — is due to happen next Monday, October 5.

There’s five weeks to go until DIRT 5 launches on current-gen consoles and PC, and the content reveal keeps on coming. We’ve seen several clips of the game over the last few weeks, and today we get a glimpse of another.

Engine supplier Honda has announced it will withdraw from Formula One at the conclusion of the 2021 season. The surprise move, announced this morning, brings to an end Honda’s return to F1 which started in 2015.

This year’s F1 Esports competition starts in just under two weeks, but if you want to find yourself in the hot seat next year the process begins right now.

If you like your racing game action well onto the arcade patch of the Venn diagram of driving, October looks set to be a decent month for you. Need for Speed Payback, the 2017 release from Ghost Games, will head to PlayStation Plus as one of the month’s two free games.

If you’re one of the console cadre of Assetto Corsa Competizione, there’s some good news for you today. The long-awaited GT4 Pack DLC is available right now, from both the PlayStation Store and the Microsoft Store for the respective consoles.

With the PlayStation 5 launch hoving into view, Sony has made a major change to its official landing page for the console. The update refreshes the look of that area of the site, but also gives more information on a variety of both first- and third-party games coming to PS5. Among the titles involved in the update is Gran Turismo 7.