To celebrate 25 years of the popular driving game Gran Turismoa Digital polyphony put this tribute video online showing all the impact this racing series has Kazunori Yamauchi had all over the world.
Kazunori “KAZ” Yamauchithe president of Digital polyphonyleft the following message:
I am delighted that we are celebrating our 25th anniversary since the first release of the Gran Turismo series.
In 1992, Gran Turismo was the first project I created out of about 100 others I created when I started my career in this industry, so it means a lot to me.
While making video games was something I started at age 10 as a hobby, I never thought I’d make a career out of it. I started a filmmaking club when I was 14 and was making films, so I joined Sony hoping to make imaging products.
But the department I was assigned to was not what I expected.
It was a department where the PlayStation console was about to start, and it was a place where Kutaragi-san was feverishly working to bring the PlayStation concept to life.
That place was not what I expected, but looking back on it now, it can be said that I was very lucky.
I was fascinated by the real-time 3D graphics that many have come to expect and have created and submitted plans for all types of video games, not just racing games, but RPGs, adventure games, action games, puzzle games, and much more. .
As a result, Gran Turismo took on a more inventive racing game format in the ‘Motor Toon Grand Prix’, making it one of the first original PlayStation titles, but if a plan for something other than a racing game was what you approved of, there’s a good chance I’m making a different Gran Turismo title today.
So the Gran Turismo project began by putting together a team of two part-time artists and three engineers.
From there, the number of companions continued to increase in number for over a quarter of a century and today became Polyphony Digital, a company with over 200 employees.
I don’t think there are many video game franchises in the world that go on for 25 years with the same title and team.
The founding members of the company are still working on the front lines and I am grateful and proud that all 200 employees are a team that has the same drive and love with which the company started.
Over the past 25 years, the cumulative sales total of the series has reached over 90 million copies as of November 16, 2022.
And this result is something that could not be achieved alone.
Behind that figure of 90 million are all the media that have conveyed the charm of Gran Turismo to their readers.
There’s the people at PlayStation who have passionately sold us GTs around the world, and there’s the incredible support from the retailers who’ve interacted with our users.
My sincere thanks to all of them for their support.
And above all, I can’t thank enough the GT users and people in the GT community who have played our new titles, which can sometimes be considered too experimental.
We are here today thanks to all the people who supported us. I think the Gran Turismo series has always been looking for ‘Beauty’.
The beauty of the cars, the beauty of the landscapes, the beauty of the lighting, the beauty of the driving, the beauty of the sounds/music and the beauty of the graphics.
The “search for beauty” is the motivation behind the creation of Gran Turismo. We have a new determination to continue our progress into the future with a strong sense of purpose. We appreciate all of your support over the past 25 years.
Thank you.
