Graphics

At the SIGGRAPH 2025 conference in Vancouver, three engineers from Polyphony Digital delivered a detailed presentation on the visual technology inside Gran Turismo 7, offering a rare look behind-the-curtains to explain why the game’s graphics have such a distinct quality.

Technical presentations recently published by Polyphony Digital engineers have given us a fascinating look at the work that goes on behind the scenes at the secretive development studio.

As we recently reported, Polyphony Digital has published slides from two presentations given by employees at CEDEC 2018 in Tokyo. The first covered “Iris”, the ray-tracing lighting system developed in-house exclusively for Gran Turismo Sport.

Since Polyphony Digital first launched Gran Turismo, the company has been creating some of the most graphically impressive titles in the video game industry. Detailed car models and beautiful lighting has been a hallmark of the series for more than 20 years.

When you think of Gran Turismo there are two things that should immediately come to mind: the library of vehicles, and the beautiful visuals the game has been renowned for for more than a decade and a half. Whether it be the breathtaking details of the car models or the landscapes, Gran Turismo is known for its ‘shock and awe’ when it comes to the in-game rendering engine.