In July of 2013, Polyphony Digital, Turn10 and Sony collaborated in establishing a social experiment to test the patience of their customers... and just when they would give up.
The main tool used for the experiment was a sixth installment of the Gran Turismo series. It was released on December 6, 2013.
For Gran Turismo 6, they removed B-Spec and Course Maker, and promised them to come in a future update. As well, they introduced many new features... which were also to come next in a future update. And to commemorate Gran Turismo's 15th Anniversary, Polyphony Digital introduced the Vision Gran Turismo project, where they invite numerous manufacturers to dream up cars the world had never seen before. The catch? It is really PD making the cars, and they release them only when they see fit.
Looking at results by examining forums such as GTPlanet, everyone was happy with the game for the first couple of months. By March, some were ticked off nothing promised had been introduced. The Vision Gran Turismo project was rolling on extremely slowly.
It was by May, five months after GT6 was brought to stores, those that were previously ticked off left Gran Turismo after simply losing their patience, and went on to PC gaming or Forza. A new horde of ticked off gamers appeared. Patience was dropping, complaints were rising.
During the two summertime months, GPS Visualizer was finally released seven months after GT6 was brought to stores. After an increasingly long wait, some gamers' happiness was restored. However, most were still bent on complaining about the lack of VGT cars and B-Spec/Course Maker.
VGT production sped up and more cars were pushed out around autumn. No B-Spec/Course Maker. However, many did not seem to care about VGT. More GT fans were fleeing to Forza and PC games.
On December 6, 2014, the one year anniversary of GT6 had arrived. One full year, and this was the ultimate patience test; how many will stay loyal to GT even if we don't introduce B-Spec/Course Maker after a full year? The answer was straightforward. Most stayed, but a lot still gave up.
Now well into 2015, and the anticipated Project CARS game is to be released. Examining GTPlanet and other forums, it seems lots of people vow they will give up Gran Turismo when pCARS is released.
Where is this experiment going now? The Alpine VGT vehicle is set to be released to the game in an update. PD has B-Spec/Course Maker ready, but the experiment must go on and they are not planning to release it anytime soon.
Sony/PD have privately noted to affiliates that the social experiment will end July 30, 2015, and the game's development will continue normally. Turn10 opted out of the experiment on October 22, 2014.
Leaked email being sent from an employee at Polyphony Digital. Names and greetings removed. To whom this email is being sent to is unknown.