As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time to look back at what has been one of the most transformative and busy years for both Gran Turismo and the wider racing game industry.
From historic sales milestones to massive game updates and a shifting competitive landscape, this year has felt a little different from anything we’ve experienced in the past.
Here is a look at the biggest stories and trends that defined 2025…
Table of Contents
- Gran Turismo 7: The “Spec III” Era
- Gran Turismo Hits 100 Million Sold
- The Esports Scene
- Industry Turbulence
- New Contenders: Assetto Corsa EVO and Beyond
- Looking Ahead to 2026
- Happy New Year!
Gran Turismo 7: The “Spec III” Era
For a game entering its fourth year, Gran Turismo 7 is showing no signs of slowing down.
In fact, it’s currently experiencing a “phenomenon” of growth that neither Polyphony Digital nor Sony has seen before. Series producer Kazunori Yamauchi revealed during our round-table in Fukuoka that the game is maintaining over two million monthly active users, stating the franchise is arguably in its strongest position, ever.
The clear highlight of the year was the launch of the Spec III update. Not only did it finally bring the long-awaited Yas Marina and Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, but it introduced the Power Pack DLC.
This was a landmark moment for the series as the first-ever paid expansion, reintroducing single-player endurance races and qualifying sessions. It felt like a direct response to what many hardcore fans in our forums have been asking for.
Gran Turismo Hits 100 Million Sold
In June, the franchise hit a number that truly boggles the mind: 100 million copies sold worldwide.
This milestone represents 28 years of history and a pace of sales that has actually accelerated with GT7. As Yamauchi-san noted in his message to the community, this achievement belongs to the players who have supported the series from the PS1 days to today.
We also saw GT7 become the series’ highest-grossing title in the USA, proving that even in a changing market, the “Real Driving Simulator” remains a juggernaut.
The Esports Scene
The 2025 Gran Turismo World Series took us to new venues, from London and Berlin, to a spectacular Fan Fest in Los Angeles. That LA event, in particular, felt like a blueprint for the future, merging grassroots car culture with top-tier sim racing in a way that felt authentically “Gran Turismo” unlike any other event before it.
On the track, Spain’s Jose Serrano was the dominant force, completing a historic Manufacturers/Nations double — the first since 2020. We also witnessed Porsche becoming the first non-Japanese brand to take the Manufacturers Cup title. The year ended with a homecoming finale in Fukuoka, close to Polyphony’s own offices.
Industry Turbulence
It wasn’t all celebrations this year.
The racing genre felt the sting of broader industry trends, particularly with significant layoffs at Turn 10 Studios which reportedly cut nearly half of the development staff. This was followed by the news that Forza Motorsport is effectively on life support, with no further content updates planned as the team shifts to the next project.
We also saw the end of an era for the Project CARS franchise as PCARS 3 was delisted from stores. However, the spiritual successor, Project Motor Racing, officially launched in November, offering a path to redemption for the Straight4 team despite its own turbulent launch window and layoffs.
Fans of Need for Speed were disappointed to learn of the retirement of the most recent game in the series, Unbound, as Criterion switched once again to support development of Battlefield with no new NFS title in the works.
That was later compounded by job cuts at EA, which may have also impacted Codemasters as it announced an end to the official WRC series — which returns to Nacon for 2027 — and the unprecedented news of the official F1 series taking a year off.
New Contenders: Assetto Corsa EVO and Beyond
One of the most exciting developments this year has been the evolution of Assetto Corsa EVO.
Since entering Early Access in January, Kunos has consistently delivered, adding a significant number of tracks, and recently introducing the Ferrari SF-25 F1 car. A surprise new title, Assetto Corsa Rally, has also made waves since it hit Early Access in November.
We also saw the reveal of iRacing Arcade and a new standalone IndyCar title coming in 2026, marking a major push by iRacing into the console market.
Looking Ahead to 2026
As we turn the page, the roadmap for 2026 is already filling up.
Microsoft has officially confirmed Forza Horizon 6 for 2026. It will be set in Japan and is confirmed for a post-launch PlayStation 5 release.
While there won’t be a full F1 game in 2026, for the first time in 15 years, the 2026 season will be made available as a DLC pack for F1 25. It’s an approach we floated in our summary of F1 24, and it should be interesting if more will follow after the next entry in 2027.
Endurance Motorsport Series should finally make a public appearance of some kind in 2026 too, while Wreckfest 2 looks like it’ll be released at some point in the year too. Then there’s a little thing called Grand Theft Auto VI, which will probably occupy a few of us for a bit…
On the Gran Turismo news front, the brand’s partnership with Xiaomi is just getting started, with the record-breaking SU7 Ultra and a new Vision GT project on the way, while a second Chinese brand was also confirmed with Yangwang’s insane, 3,000hp U9 heading to the game. And of course, rumors about Gran Turismo 8’s development are only getting louder as we approach the series’ 30th anniversary in 2027…
Happy New Year!
On behalf of the entire GTPlanet staff, I wish all of our visitors, users, and community members around the world a happy, healthy, and safe new year.
Our editorial team will be taking the next few days off to rest and recharge as we prepare for what we hope is an exciting year ahead. Thank you for your continued support, and we’ll see you in 2026!
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