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You find me here this evening at the press launch of the new Grand Turismo game, Grand Turismo sport.
Which will be coming to European shop on November 16.
We have seen an incredible cooperation between Polyphony, the creators of Gran Turismo, and the automotive industry.
Previously the Nissan GTR had its interior physicals and instruments designed by Polyphony.
And in addition to that, we are here surrounded by some of the Gran Turismo vision concepts, where Manufacturers from all across the world have made concept cars that not only feature in the game, but Have actually got physical presences.
These physical models also represent some massive leaps forward in design but today the real headlines for us is the cooperation between Grand Tourismo and the FIAs.
Now there has been real interaction between Grand Tourismo and Motor Corp previously in the GT Academy.
Jann Mardenborough, its most famous graduate, is now a professional racing driver racing at Le Mans.
Now, in addition to that, they're going to expand that relationship with an official tie in with the FIA.
What that means is that your progress through the game in Grand Tourismo can now be recognized by the international racing body.
Now, this will translate to you being able to get get an actual racing licence that works in the real world.
We've yet to see how that would actually work, but the idea is mind blowing.
What this could potentially mean, is the democratization of motor sports.
Motorsports has been an elitist endeavor since it very first started.
The sheer cost of it means that for the vast majority of people it is completely out of touch.
But now, with the FIA working with Gran Turismo.
There is a real opportunity for motor sports to become accessible to millions of people.
Your progression up through the game will not just look at racing skills but things like track etiquette making you not just a better racer, but a better real world racer.
This afford is incredibly important.
Motorsports has been out of the reach for almost everyone since it was very first created.
Now there's an actual opportunity for people like you and I to jump on a PlayStation and gain the skills that will get us on the first level of genuine Motorsports.
They want to bridge the gap between the console and the track.
And I am incredibly excited about what that could entail.
As I said, the game doesn't come out until November 16th, so there's some time for us to figure out exactly how this collaboration is going to work.
And in some countries, the connection between the real world and the virtual world will differ.
The United Kingdom, I'm glad to say, is very much part of this collaboration.
So we are incredibly excited to see what kind of progress we can make in the real world.
Just by getting better at Gran Turismo.
The game itself is an incremental progress on Gran Turismo 6, and it's can you believe the 13th iteration of the game in total.
You could say that the actual progress is small in terms of driving dynamics and design and graphics, But this tie in with the FA is actually a huge leap forward.
In no other sport can video games actually help you get better at the real world equivalent, whereas here with motor sports we have an actually opportunity to progress our skills within the console world.
I've had an exceptionally brief go on the game myself here today, and it's a Gran Turismo game.
It looks and it feels, and it plays exceptionally well.
But this extra ability to really get better at real racing is what's got me really excited.
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