Gran Turismo and Fanatec Will Partner Up to Develop New Racing Game Peripherals

Polyphony Digital and Fanatec have announced a new partnership that will see the peripheral manufacturer create new products for the Gran Turismo racing game series.

In an official release, the two brands commented that they will be working together to develop new, officially licensed Gran Turismo products with advanced force feedback technology, to “reduce the distinction between sim racing and real-world racing”.

The partnership represents a shift in technology for Gran Turismo, from the current belt-driven wheels to the direct drive wheels that Fanatec is pioneering across the sim-racing spectrum.

Fanatec will become the third wheel peripheral manufacturer to officially partner with Gran Turismo. Logitech was the first, producing the original GT Force wheel for Gran Turismo 3 in 2001, right through to the Driving Force GT for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Thrustmaster followed, with the T500 RS and T300 RS as the official wheels of Gran Turismo 5 and 6, and the T-GT for GT Sport.

It’s not the first association that Fanatec has had with Gran Turismo however. A technical fault during the 2019 Gran Turismo World Tour in Tokyo saw Thrustmaster withdraw its T-GT wheel temporarily, with Fanatec stepping in to provide CSL Elite wheels to the competitors.

The news comes shortly after a leak yesterday of a potential new Gran Turismo-branded Fanatec wheel. Interestingly, Fanatec has commented on its official blog that, as with previous GT wheels, Polyphony Digital will be responsible for the “industrial design”, adding some credence to the images we saw yesterday.

While Fanatec has yet to officially announce any products from the partnership, it is expected to reveal a version of the CSL DD direct drive wheel specifically for PlayStation 4 and 5, and has also revealed it will make a first product announcement “in a couple of weeks” with production starting this year.

That won’t be an end of it however, as Fanatec also suggests it has “bigger plans” to come, and whatever it reveals in the coming days will simply be the first to come from the partnership.

It’s the latest announcement in what has been a busy year for Fanatec. The brand not only sponsors the 2021 GT World Challenge, it also hosts the first virtual race series that generates real-world points within that competition. It’s also revealed gaming peripherals that double up as real steering wheels, for the 2022 BMW M4 GT3 and the Bentley Continental GT Pikes Peak.

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Comments (24)

  1. GamerSX

    The lack of further news on this is annoying. I presume that the wheel will not be released until the GT7 is so in that case I don’t expect we will see anything until 2022.
    I want to get the CSL DD, but if the PS compatible wheel is just a few weeks away then I will not be a happy camper.

  2. Racingfan777

    This is a huge shame, Fanatec is absurdly expensive and only sold in first world countries. Thrustmaster is a global and affordable racing brand.

  3. Daz555

    I really hope this does not end up being the only way that Playstation racers can get hold of a PS compatible CSL DD. I want a CSL DD but want no part of that tacky looking rim.

    1. VFOURMAX1

      Sony pretty much has always had the final say on what could be sold as a “PS compatible” bundle. Basically the Fanatec PS compatible CSL Elite and the PS compatible DD1 you were forced to get the wheel offered to get the PS compatible wheelbase although you could buy different wheels and use them after the initial bundle purchase.

      Would surprise me if this new bundle was any different than those in the past.

  4. Kurichan

    I said it in the thread when the pics leaked but I still have hope that the design is not final / a fake or at least the packaging is.

    The Japanese in the bottom of the package is wrong it means ‚for‘ but not in the context intended. It should be PS5, PS4対応, not にとって.
    This mistake would happen if someone used Google translator instead of actually understanding Japanese.

    I love the fanatec-gt connection but here is hope that this is not yet the final design.

    Please!

  5. danimac

    So this must be why PlayStation had to wait for the new CSL DD announcement. I hope its the same DD wheel base and pedals but with the GT rim. I hope I can swap the rim or they make adjustments it does look a bit bulky and not as sleek and others. Granted this is PD that got to make the design and not Fanatec. Anyways I’m exited that Fanatec and Gran Turismo are partnering up so cool.

  6. NosOsH

    Transducer built in? Or haptics?
    Amazing news regardless
    L2 and R2 look almost like triggers, maybe even built resistive triggers? Was really hoping for 2 analog sticks for camera movement, rev bar and a 300mm size rim….
    One can hope

  7. FPV MIC

    This should be a great partnership! The Fanatec DD wheelbases are the best choice of the current crop of wheelbases so this makes sense to me.

    1. Domagoj Lenartić

      Its not nice. PD had their hands in it and I dont like it. QR is plastic, base got a bit bigger and also plastic AND ther is a cooling mesh behind QR. What? FAN again?
      I wanna buy original DD with all metal parts and no fan. Period!!!!

  8. Bartje_K77

    Just sold my old CSL Elite and bought a T-GT 2 just for the Gran Turismo integration. Lol. Luckily I’m still in the 30 days return window of the reseller. Will start the return shipment immediately.

    1. Racer294

      Good news. But, that is not a Fanatec rim. Most definitely a mutation of a TM TGT rim. If PD had design input on the TGT, then they did on that goofy looking thing. If it’s even real

      1. Bartje_K77

        Quote from the Fanatec blog post on their forum: There is no product announcement so far but the first product of this partnership will be announced in a couple of weeks and production is planned to start this year. The industrial design will be made by Polyphony Digital just like they did with other GT licensed products before and I am sure it will be perfectly integrated in their racing titles as other GT products before.

        https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/23483/the-beginning-of-a-new-era-fanatec-and-polyphony?utm_medium=FAP+Banner&utm_source=gtplanet&utm_campaign=General+Links&a_aid=gtplanet`

        Sounds like the wheel itself has been designed by Polyphony.

      2. michael lopez

        Ya I would agree, doubt that is the final look of the rim. The rim does look thurstmasterish. which makes me think it is not the final production.

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