GT Sport Has More Than 7 Million Players According to Polyphony Digital's Latest Figures

[TS050]

Valid criticism =/= Hate

 

[TurismoBad]

Not bad for a "small" GT game. Imagine the numbers for a GT7 with Sport mode AND a traditional big single player mode - could cross 10mln lifetime.

 

[Unknown?]

Sorry did I miss the part of the AUP that says every post has to be a GTS positive one?

It’d just be nice if people didn’t use the same statements that don’t hold any water over and over which can be applied to any game.

 

[Rustyhole]

"However the statement is quite unequivocal, with Yamauchi remarking that the game “has more than 7 million players, across Europe, North America, Asia, and Japan”."

Given Kaz's history with translations, I doubt anything can be taken as unequivocal.

Not bad for a "small" GT game.

Is GT Sport really that small anymore. With the continual additions to the GT League (not to mention cars/tracks) it's practically a full title with apparently decent online.
The way they give prizes could be adjusted, but that "progression" hardly adds as much as some would be lead to believe.
Seems to me, GT League is a normal singleplayer GT mode for the most part.

 

[Slapped]

One interesting thing to do is take the 7 million and then look at the total number you get to from the trophy percentages.

Things like the trophy for watching the three videos to access Sport mode, it knocks those numbers down quite significantly in terms of how people are playing GTS.

Yeah, I've often done that with other games and thought how the hell can somebody buy a game and not even get the first trophy which takes about 5 minutes...

...and then I look at my own personal backlog of bought but never played games and everything becomes clear.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

This post is a pure fanboy magnet. A tip of the cap to you, well played gtplanet, well played

It's unfortunate you feel that way: it's just player count figures, which are a pretty standard metric for developers to share, and for us (a news outlet focusing on sim racing and automotive news) to cover. We've done it with Assetto Corsa and Forza Horizon 4 lately too.

Valid criticism =/= Hate

Yeah, but good luck telling some people that. Unfortunately today's divisiveness — and I'm talking about the world in general, not just digital cars — means some folks can't separate the two.

It’d just be nice if people didn’t use the same statements that don’t hold any water over and over which can be applied to any game.

But so much of it is subjective, and there's an important difference between seeing a common criticism often from a variety of members, and one member repeating the same criticism over and over.

Would very much prefer to know how many individual copies of the game (whether digital or hard) have been sold. Have Sony or PD got the balls to just tell it like it is, or do they want to continue to manipulate & hide behind behind vague statistics that seem to big them up on the surface, but, which don't show the full picture...

Cannot help but be reminded of this quote, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli.

Are you a shareholder? If you are, I could see why sales figures matter. Otherwise:

Honestly, from an end-user perspective, sales figures are pretty much useless. It's a bragging point for fanatics to whip out as some sort of justification their preferred title is better. Other than that, it really only gives players a vague idea of how profitable the game was for the company (which could hint at long-term support or sequel potential) — and with DLC, microtransactions and other costs in the genre now, it really is vague.

Player counts give you an idea of how active the community will be, which is probably more relevant to the experience itself, especially one as centered on online play as GTS.

Yeah, I've often done that with other games and thought how the hell can somebody buy a game and not even get the first trophy which takes about 5 minutes...

...and then I look at my own personal backlog of bought but never played games and everything becomes clear.

Right?! I just looked at the achievements for FH4 and only 83.64% of people have gotten to the Horizon Festival — in other words, completed the introductory race. Nearly 1 in 5 didn't even manage that. Possibly even scarier: only 61.1% of GT Sport players have hit 100km, which is surprising considering 73.8% have netted at least one win...

 

[FoRiZon]

But so much of it is subjective, and there's an important difference between seeing a common criticism often from a variety of members, and one member repeating the same criticism over and over

I wish i can like this more than one time just for this statement. I know those who had done the latter for years (and for additional thing quite lot of them actually oppose such act on other games/subforum) but I kept secret of who exactly.

 

[GTWelsh]

I wish i can like this more than one time just for this statement. I know those who had done the latter for years but I kept secret of who exactly.

It's a bug bear of mine, I'm not suggesting people can't give their negative opinion, and state facts about why it's this or that. However when I've seen it from the same guy for the 800th time, almost flame-baiting, it does get a bit tedious.

However more on-topic, I've put some very long hours into GTS and I am dwindling now. I've moved into only doing online events organised by the good people here and don't play it for anything else

 

[TokoTurismo]

When Forza Horizon 4 announced it hit 9 million plays, some people were quick to bash it right away. With GT, you dare say anything against it you be considered a hater, even with valid criticisms that Forza gets on a daily basis.

On topic, congrats to PD I guess. But when is GT7 coming?

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I wish i can like this more than one time just for this statement. I know those who had done the latter for years (and for additional thing quite lot of them actually oppose such act on other games/subforum) but I kept secret of who exactly.

This sort of illustrates my point though: people find repetitive negative comments as problematic, but something like "GT Sport has the best physics in the genre" repeated ad nauseum is just as steeped in issues.

I'm not going to say that pure impartiality is desirable — or even strictly possible — but confirmation bias means people overlook the behaviour they complain about simply because it lines up with their own opinions.

 

[Unknown?]

But so much of it is subjective, and there's an important difference between seeing a common criticism often from a variety of members, and one member repeating the same criticism over and over.

I’m mainly talking about the main talking points to downplay the numbers. When it comes to players it obviously isn’t sold but people always bring up reasons that apply to any game ever released. If they used numbers sold the goal posts would move once again.

These numbers are fine, simply put for a little over a year in a genre that is almost niche nowadays.

When Forza Horizon 4 announced it hit 9 million plays, some people were quick to bash it right away. With GT, you dare say anything against it you be considered a hater, even with valid criticisms that Forza gets on a daily basis.

On topic, congrats to PD I guess. But when is GT7 coming?

Well it’s stupid to bash it but there are huge differences between GTS and FH4. FH4 is on gamepass which will give it a huge advantage. It was also bundled more than GTS was. 9M is still respectable but they can’t be compared for those reasons.

 

[Scaff]

I was thinking of older gran turismo games that was a pretty good car selection. Gts does not have that yet but we are getting there maybe around its end.

The subject being discussed is GTS, not the whole series.

I still prefer the car selection i gts over pc and ac. Pc2 had more cars at launch than gts. But now gts have a bit more than pc2. And before its end it might have twice as Much cars as pc2.

Quantity doesn't always mean quality.

GTS' path for new content it headed down simply re-doing old premium cars from past titles, with very little in that way of new content. The issue this causes is a massive lack on new vehicles and the under use of some licences (Porsche being the best example of this).

Don't get me wrong GTS does some things well, its inclusion of Kei-cars for example.

However for me, the balance is out in GTS, as apart from GT3 cars, its got very little in the way of established race series that can be easily replicated. While with PC2 for example you have a wide range of GT3, GTE, GT4, Touring Cars, Rally Cross, Group B Rally Cross, LMP (from across the ages), etc.

I play most with a controller, so unless you racing with a wheel the physics of ac or pc won't matter with a controller. Both pc and ac are terrible with a controller. Gran turismo is great with a controller.

The physics don't change based on the input device, and nether PC2 or AC are terriable with a controller. They have less baked in aids than GTS does with a controller, which means they are less pick up and play, but both are more than maniable with a controller, as a good number of users can attest to.

As for progression to me gts has far better than both ac or pcars. I prefer to own my cars.

This one is very personal, I don't really care for progression and can live without it (but fully understand why some love it). However even with GTS this is unbalanced, as it pretty much falls by the way side when it comes to Sport mode.

And ac and pcars you can increase Power or decrease weight to me that makes those 2 games boring in the long run. Gts dosent have a perfect upgrade system, but at least we have something, i could not live with a racing without the upgrading. That one of the reasons i was bored with both pc and ac that quickly.

I personally have little interest in upgrades, as it really doesn't (unless its as accurately and well done as the F1 series has it) gel with reality at all.

I'm far more interested in a tuning system that works in the way reality does, and has the actual impact that it should have. I would swap every part of the upgrades in GTS for a half way decent tyre model that allows you to adjust tyre pressure.

Every car is more worth to me if you can Do more things to them

No car is worth a thing if its physics are not correctly modelled. And this is the main issue I have with GTS, a good number of cars simply do not behave in the way they should do. The particular culprits are the rear engine cars and the FWD cars, in particular the FWD race cars.

Its why for me AC is still (just) the console benchmark, as despite a lot smaller car and track list, the sheer difference between each of the cars and the manner in which they react provides far more variety than the cookie-cutter drives that GTS has in its list. GTS is almost devoid of lift-off oversteer in RR and FWD cars, which robs them of how they should be driven and the challenge they are in reality (and how different they are to MR and FR), with FWD race cars just being FWD cars with a lot more grip. Take the likes of a FWD race preped car out in AC or PC2 and you have tp learn how to drive it as a totally different beast, rather than it just being another FWD car with a different level of grip.

No amount of GTS car upgrades will ever change that.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

I’m mainly talking about the main talking points to downplay the numbers. When it comes to players it obviously isn’t sold but people always bring up reasons that apply to any game ever released. If they used numbers sold the goal posts would move once again.

These numbers are fine, simply put for a little over a year in a genre that is almost niche nowadays.

Well it’s stupid to bash it but there are huge differences between GTS and FH4. FH4 is on gamepass which will give it a huge advantage. It was also bundled more than GTS was. 9M is still respectable but they can’t be compared for those reasons.

If anything, I'd say GTS and FH4 show that the genre has turned around from its niche status. GTS hit 7 million players in around 16 months, as a much smaller, more esport-focused title than what's come before. FH4 hit 7 million players in around 4 months, as the pre-eminent arcade racer of the generation. Game Pass surely helps, but IMO only detractors will want to discount the game's success based on that: Netflix-style services are the way forward, and MS showed a rare instance of savviness by sticking such a big-draw game on there from day one. It's sort of the next step after bundling (which FH4 is also party to, much like GT3, PD's best seller): you get people into the ecosystem this way, and they're more likely to stick around and end up spending more money.

Look at GTS: it's once again introduced microtransactions — after Kaz himself said they wouldn't be in there — and yet the slightly different approach to them has seemingly softened peoples' hard stance on the practice. I've certainly noticed a lot less militant anti-MT posts 'round these parts than I did before GT did it. Though it's hard to pin that on Sport's introduction of them exclusively: exposure to the practice has likely dulled its impact.

 

[RustyCitroen]

I wish success on GT, even though I have left the series behind for PC gaming. The next GT title will probably be the first GT game that I never played apart from GT2000 and Tokyo-Seoul Concept, and that depresses me.

 

[MrSayAnythang]

Any info on a possible new location worth any of these updates this month?

 

[VBR]

"wrong statistic" "not perfect physics" "not perfect graphics" "i have 20 accounts" Whining is everywhere..... just calm down, GTS is already successful

Sorry did I miss the part of the AUP that says every post has to be a GTS positive one?

I was a member a small GT forum once upon a time that started to take that approach, practically banning any negative talk about the game, it's the reason I left & came here. This is gtplanet, not gtfanboys! It's good to be able to express both positive & negative opinions about GT/PD/Sony without being threatened with the banhammer.

 

[dimassa19]

I was a member a small GT forum once upon a time that started to take that approach, practically banning any negative talk about the game, it's the reason I left & came here. This is gtplanet, not gtfanboys! It's good to be able to express both positive & negative opinions about GT/PD/Sony without being threatened with the banhammer.

So I will think of something negative to say about this 7 Million... Let's see if I can.

 

[Beezer215]

I’d like to know the total number of hours played across the 7 million.

Different statistics can be found here:
https://www.kudosprime.com/gts/stats.php?stat_preset=daily_sport_activity

 

[Scaff]

I’m mainly talking about the main talking points to downplay the numbers.

I know its terrible isn't it.


Oh wait...

there are huge differences between GTS and FH4.

FH4 is on gamepass which will give it a huge advantage.

It was also bundled more than GTS was.

9M is still respectable but they can’t be compared for those reasons.

...you seem very happy to do it when it isn't your preferred title.

 

[TokoTurismo]

I’m mainly talking about the main talking points to downplay the numbers. When it comes to players it obviously isn’t sold but people always bring up reasons that apply to any game ever released. If they used numbers sold the goal posts would move once again.

These numbers are fine, simply put for a little over a year in a genre that is almost niche nowadays.



Well it’s stupid to bash it but there are huge differences between GTS and FH4. FH4 is on gamepass which will give it a huge advantage. It was also bundled more than GTS was. 9M is still respectable but they can’t be compared for those reasons.

Why wouldn't it be compared? It's based on number of players. After all, GTS has seen many discounts in the past, which may have also helped boost up new players (but that depends however, since accounts also come into play here).

I feel FH4 has everyday right to be compared to GTS based on player counts.

 

[VBR]

As far as I can recall, for all previous GT games, we have an estimated number of total sales. GTS is the only game in the series where we don't really have this, but, are instead being fobbed off with how many "players" there are supposed to be, when in fact it's really just the number of profiles that have accessed the game at some point. Stats like this are therefore intrinsically misleading, & are not at all helpful when it comes to seeing how GTS sales compare with the sales of other entries in the series.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

As far as I can recall, for all previous GT games we have an estimated number of total sales. GTS is the only game in the series where we don't really have this, but, are instead being fobbed off with how many "players" there are supposed to be, when in fact it's really just the number of profiles that have accessed the game at some point. Stats like this are therefore intrinsically misleading, & are not at all helpful when it comes to trying to see how GTS sales compare with other entries in the series.

No they're not — they'd be misleading if Polyphony was trying to compare player counts with game sales. Which it hasn't.

We're seeing this shift across the gaming landscape for good reason: it's what matters more these days. Only focusing on sales figures was partially out of necessity back in previous generations: Sony had no idea what people were doing with their copies of GT3 once they were sold. Now developers can get a better idea of how players are interacting with their products, which is a far more powerful tool for improving the games themselves.

Look at Apex Legends: it just hit a huge milestone with 50 million players so far. It's a free title, but much like another huge title (Fortnite), it has microtransactions. So even if the cost to get in the door is nothing, the developer can leverage that enormous userbase to ensure money is coming in through the MTs. Even if it's a small percentage of players, it's a small percentage of a huge figure. Plus, I believe you'll find more folks are willing to part with a few dollars here and there if they've already got the main game for free.

Sales figures being the only metric for success is an outdated way of looking at things. Even the music industry had to readjust to account for how listeners engage with music these days. It's about time the video game world did the same.

 

[Ande3200]

The subject being discussed is GTS, not the whole series.



Quantity doesn't always mean quality.

GTS' path for new content it headed down simply re-doing old premium cars from past titles, with very little in that way of new content. The issue this causes is a massive lack on new vehicles and the under use of some licences (Porsche being the best example of this).

Don't get me wrong GTS does some things well, its inclusion of Kei-cars for example.

However for me, the balance is out in GTS, as apart from GT3 cars, its got very little in the way of established race series that can be easily replicated. While with PC2 for example you have a wide range of GT3, GTE, GT4, Touring Cars, Rally Cross, Group B Rally Cross, LMP (from across the ages), etc.



The physics don't change based on the input device, and nether PC2 or AC are terriable with a controller. They have less baked in aids than GTS does with a controller, which means they are less pick up and play, but both are more than maniable with a controller, as a good number of users can attest to.


This one is very personal, I don't really care for progression and can live without it (but fully understand why some love it). However even with GTS this is unbalanced, as it pretty much falls by the way side when it comes to Sport mode.



I personally have little interest in upgrades, as it really doesn't (unless its as accurately and well done as the F1 series has it) gel with reality at all.

I'm far more interested in a tuning system that works in the way reality does, and has the actual impact that it should have. I would swap every part of the upgrades in GTS for a half way decent tyre model that allows you to adjust tyre pressure.



No car is worth a thing if its physics are not correctly modelled. And this is the main issue I have with GTS, a good number of cars simply do not behave in the way they should do. The particular culprits are the rear engine cars and the FWD cars, in particular the FWD race cars.

Its why for me AC is still (just) the console benchmark, as despite a lot smaller car and track list, the sheer difference between each of the cars and the manner in which they react provides far more variety than the cookie-cutter drives that GTS has in its list. GTS is almost devoid of lift-off oversteer in RR and FWD cars, which robs them of how they should be driven and the challenge they are in reality (and how different they are to MR and FR), with FWD race cars just being FWD cars with a lot more grip. Take the likes of a FWD race preped car out in AC or PC2 and you have tp learn how to drive it as a totally different beast, rather than it just being another FWD car with a different level of grip.

No amount of GTS car upgrades will ever change that.

I am fine with gts physics. The controller physics are better than ac by far for me even after adjustments.


Just becouse gts has more cars dosent mean its of worse quality. I would say the quality of the graphics on the cars are better in gts.
They have been brand new models for the franchise just for gts maybe we have got around 30 new models i can't remember. I don't mind the premiums back becouse there was plenty of them that i love.
Without it i will never get My lfa and C5 and C6 corvettes back becouse they was premiums in gt6

But it comes down to each persons opinion.
I just can't enjoy i racing game without being able to customize and upgrade My cars. I was bored with both ac and pc it dosent matter how realistic the both are that dosent make the game Any better to me if the left out the important stuff that i enjoy. Gts feels good enough for me. You can upgrade Power on cars in reallife. And i know a friend that will install a cam and supercharger on a c6 Corvette, so why not do that in a game as well. But of course i do know that not everyone care for this but for me it is important. That is what made gran turismo for me and the Amazing career mode

 

[sems4arsenal]

My prediction of 6-7 million life time sales shall be achieved (probably bettered). There were people here predicting only 2 million sales.

 

[GTjedi99]

Gt planet- Writes artical about player count
Forum dwellers- BUT MUH PHYSICS HAVE YALL EVEN PLAYED ASSETO CORSA REEEE

 

[Scaff]

I am fine with gts physics. The controller physics are better than ac by far for me even after adjustments.

The physics do not change dependent on the input device. What you prefer are the baked in assists that make it easier to drive GTS with a controller.

Just becouse gts has more cars dosent mean its of worse quality.

Quality in which regard?

I would say the quality of the graphics on the cars are better in gts.

And I would agree 100%, but that's not the only measure of quality.

They have been brand new models for the franchise just for gts maybe we have got around 30 new models i can't remember. I don't mind the premiums back becouse there was plenty of them that i love.
Without it i will never get My lfa and C5 and C6 corvettes back becouse they was premiums in gt6

30 new models given the amount of time between GT6 and GTS really isn't good enough in my mind.

But it comes down to each persons opinion.
I just can't enjoy i racing game without being able to customize and upgrade My cars. I was bored with both ac and pc it dosent matter how realistic the both are that dosent make the game Any better to me if the left out the important stuff that i enjoy. Gts feels good enough for me.

And that fine with me.

You can upgrade Power on cars in reallife. And i know a friend that will install a cam and supercharger on a c6 Corvette, so why not do that in a game as well. But of course i do know that not everyone care for this but for me it is important. That is what made gran turismo for me and the Amazing career mode

I'm aware it can be done, but no structure exists that follows the real world in GTS, and it barely did in part titles (and to be honest most titles get it utterly wrong). Do you know what would happen to your suspension in reality if you just wacked a set of ultra sticky race slicks on a car?

Gt planet- Writes artical about player count
Forum dwellers- BUT MUH PHYSICS HAVE YALL EVEN PLAYED ASSETO CORSA REEEE

What a well thought out retort, its made me re-evaluate all my life choices!

 

[Victoria H]

more than 7 million players, across Europe, North America, Asia, and Japan

I love how the rest of the world apparently do not exist according to PD sales department.

 

[Unknown?]

I know its terrible isn't it.


Oh wait...








...you seem very happy to do it when it isn't your preferred title.

I never said they were unimpressive numbers, nor was I downplaying them. In fact I said quite the opposite. I’ll also point out that you have no idea what my preferred title is so that’s a rather baseless claim. My point about it being on gamepass is that they aren’t directly comparable. Whereas someone stating “oh I used multiple accounts on game x” can be applied to game y like we see in threads like these for ANY game. There’s a difference between downplaying something “dur players doesn’t mean sold I used five accounts” and explaining why numbers aren’t the whole picture while still acknowledging it’s done well.

 

[Scaff]

I never said they were unimpressive numbers, nor was I downplaying them.

Yet that's what the end result is.

Doing it for any title is downplaying them, this thread has been full of members doing just that for a range of titles. From 'GTS got discounted quicker than others', to 'DC was on PS+', to 'Forza was on Gamepass'. Reasons to claim that 'title x' should be treated differently because 'title y' did or didn't do this are exactly that. A reason to justify the numbers for one, at the expense of the other.

Its impossible to do a like for like comparison on the basis of any numbers because they are all sold, accessed, played in different ways.

As such, intentional or not, that's exactly what you ended up doing in your post.

 

[AlanH49]

Yes. We get 7m players doesn’t translate to 7m sales. Just as six months ago 5m players didn’t translate to 5m sales.

By the end of this year PD will likely announce 9m players......and we’ll have the same discussions.

What I am now absolutely sure of is GT Sport will have lifetime sales well over 6m. Those can only be totalled after PS5 is released and GT7’s on the market.

Bigger picture - it was for the best PD concentrated on PS4/5 quality assets, even if it meant GT Sport launched undercooked. It will ensure GT7 is the title we all want.