The Gran Turismo World Series competition tours the globe, with the best Gran Turismo 7 drivers competing across two main championships during lavish in-person events.
In 2025, it visited London, Berlin, Los Angeles and, for the World Finals, Fukuoka, Japan.
It can be viewed live online via YouTube and Twitch in eight languages, with Mandarin (Chinese) new for the roster last season. You can also, uniquely, re-watch each event within Gran Turismo 7 through a ‘Dynamic Viewing’ feature.
This allows you to be the director, switching between each driver and camera angle, while the commentary from the race is overlaid.
Take the total viewers from these platforms, plus linear television via distribution deals – some nations take it live, others in one-hour highlight packages – and the viewer counts are significant for a driving video game series.
“We calculated the cumulative total up to Los Angeles [8th November 2025],” said Gran Turismo Series Producer Kazunori Yamuchi during a media roundtable at the Japanese finals.
A Polyphony Digital employee then clarified, on record but without wanting to be named, that on average, each World Series event “accumulates about 8 million viewers.”
With such momentum, and generally the title-deciding World Finals garnering further reach than the in-season events, there are ideas and plans for the 2026 edition. Although not that we can out what the majority of those are, yet…
“For the World Series, obviously, [we] have more ideas for the future, but we can only do it one at a time in order – all I can say right now is please wait,” explained Yamauchi.
Why Abu Dhabi
One element is for certain: Abu Dhabi will be hosting the first of four Gran Turismo World Series rounds in 2026.
Held during one day in March, the 28th, it is part of a wider gaming initiative by the United Arab Emirates capital to link businesses, nurture talent and promote what it touts as a “inclusive and vibrant gaming culture.”
“It’s a very important partnership. I would say that the partnership with Polyphony Digital, of course, under the Sony name, is very important because Abu Dhabi is trying to set a new standard in event excellence,” highlighted His Excellency, Saeed Ali Obaid Al Fazari, Executive Director, Strategy Affairs Sector at the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi.
“As we saw yesterday [the Manufacturers Cup final], attending the event by myself, it’s really well equipped with nice features, nice follow-up and turnout, whether it’s physical or online.
“It’s an initiative that we are taking forward that will support the Abu Dhabi name and Abu Dhabi Gaming being in the global spectrum.
“It started with a discussion between both parties. We saw [Gran Turismo] as a right fit. Abu Dhabi is a racing city, and it’s an unmatched game that we are speaking about.
“Being a Gran Tourismo fan for a long time, I’m really excited.”
The city’s premier race venue, the Yas Marina Circuit, was added to Gran Turismo 7 in the Spec III update last month, as it was used during the final of the Manufacturers Cup season, won by Porsche.
It’s a track that Yamauchi found holds unique challenges:
“Having driven a GT3 car on the track, I realised that it’s very technical. It requires you to drop a couple of gears lower than I had initially imagined.”
World Series helps to “meet new people”
Globetrotting each year provides an exotic backdrop, helping elevate the Gran Turismo World Series over and above similar or virtual-only sim racing esports competitions.
It also allows Sony and Polyphony Digital to invite media, content creators and possible partners to the shows.
But according the Yamauchi, there’s a human aspect to the championship, too:
“The Gran Turismo World Series has travelled all around the world, and whenever we host the World Series in a new country or a new city, the biggest stimulation I get from these events is meeting new people at each one of these countries and cities,” he says.
“I was able to meet with a lot of people in Abu Dhabi as a result of this project, and they’re all great fans of Gran Turismo. It’s always great to work with people of different cultures towards the same target. I think it’s really fantastic.
“One of the reasons why I actually do the Gran Turismo World Series, which you could consider to be a big ship or a platform, really, is to meet new people.”
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