The developer of Gran Turismo, Polyphony Digital, has confirmed that their esports series, supported by the FIA, will return in 2021.
Although in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was disrupted and unable to fulfil its calendar of “in-person” competition events, the world finals did conclude in December. In fact, of the six events scheduled to be on the calendar last year, only the Australian round took place in February as planned (ironic, when you consider what happened to Formula 1 in March).
Here’s the entirety of what’s been announced so far:
We are pleased to announce that work on the next ‘FIA Gran Turismo Championships’ 2021 Series has commenced. The race schedule and event details will be announced as soon as they are confirmed. In the meantime, the ‘Daily Races’ will be available as usual.
Thank you for continuing to enjoy Gran Turismo Sport!
https://www.gran-turismo.com/gb/gtsport/news/00_4039424.html
That’s it. Not much to go on then.
Nonetheless, the news will be welcomed by the GT Sport player and fanbase that have become accustomed to the big esports productions that the Polyphony team put on. However, the scene has been criticised by many top esports professionals for simultaneously limited commercial opportunities and offering no prize fund despite clearly having a large production budget. Arguably, as a result, many top drivers have instead turned to other championships such as F1 Esports.
Whilst we don’t have any further news just yet, it’ll be interesting to see what happens. It’s possible we’ll see the return of online-only events or perhaps a split season with an “in person” event targeted for the end of the year. Additionally, there’s the wildcard of Gran Turismo 7, originally rumoured to be released in the first half of 2021.
You seen more details about what games we’re looking forward to in 2021 in Tom’s guide.
