Speaking during the studio’s Gamescom panel in Cologne, Germany, CEO of Polyphony Digital Kazunori Yamauchi has once again stated that Gran Turismo 6 on PlayStation 4 is being considered, however, it could well materialise as Gran Turismo 7 instead. Speaking with Joystiq, the company’s head honcho believes that due to excessive development window, it’s entirely possible that GT 6 and 7 may be modelled as one game on PlayStation 4.
It’s been widely rumoured by industry experts that Gran Turismo 6 will eventually race onto the next-gen hardware. However, considering Yamauchi’s statements, it seems that when this port to PlayStation 4 does eventually materialise, it could arrive in the form of Gran Turismo 7. Given that the studio isn’t exactly celebrated for their speedy turnarounds in terms of development, the news that the sixth iteration in the racing simulator may coalesce with Gran Turismo 7 for the PS4 may leave some fans longing for a true, next-gen iteration of GT built from the ground up.
With the sixth iteration currently tethered to the PlayStation 3, and no firm confirmation of plans regarding the next generation, it could be some time yet before the studio’s franchise makes its PS4 debut. In fact, many were rather surprised that Gran Turismo 6 wasn’t on Sony’s proverbial starting grid as a PS4 launch game – a place filled by Evolution Studio’s DriveClub – however, with an install base of 70 million units, Polyphony remained loyal to Sony’s current-gen hardware.
A little while back, the company also unveiled plans to adapt the long-running franchise into a feature film; one which will reportedly follow the events of real life racer Lucas Ordóñez.
In terms of the video game medium, though, Polyphony are biding their time before entering development on a PlayStation 4 title; be it GT 6 or 7. Either way, Gran Turismo 6 will launch exclusively on PlayStation 3 on December 6th, 2013 and you can let us know what you make of this statement in the comments below.