Gran Turismo^{[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]} (GT) is a series of racing simulation video games developed by Polyphony Digital. Released on PlayStation systems, Gran Turismo games are intended to emulate the appearance and performance of a large selection of vehicles, most of which are licensed reproductions of real-world automobiles. Since the franchise's debut in 1997, over 90 million units have been sold worldwide, making it the best selling video game franchise under the PlayStation brand.^[3][4][5] An adapted film based on the series and Jann Mardenborough's career was released in August 2023 and directed by Neill Blomkamp.

The Gran Turismo series is developed by Polyphony Digital and produced by Kazunori Yamauchi. Gran Turismo can trace back its origins to 1992, when Kazunori Yamauchi set out with a group of seven to develop the original Gran Turismo, which took five years to complete.^[6][7]

The appeal of the Gran Turismo series is due significantly to its graphics, a large number of licensed vehicles, attention to vehicle detail, accurate driving physics emulation, and the ability to tune performance, hence the subtitle "The Real Driving Simulator", incorporated to the franchise's iconography since Gran Turismo 4. Handling of the vehicles is modeled on real-life driving impressions, tuning is based on principles of physics, and the sound of the vehicle's engine is based on recordings of the actual vehicles. The game has been a flagship for the PlayStation console's graphics capabilities, and is often used to demonstrate the system's potential.

Although Gran Turismo has an arcade mode, most gameplay derives from its simulation mode. Players start with a certain number of credits, usually 10,000, which are used to purchase vehicles from several manufacturer-specific shops, or (more likely at the beginning) from used car dealers, and then tune their car at the appropriate parts store for best performance. Certain events are open only to particular types of vehicles. In order to enter and progress through more difficult races, a license-testing system has been implemented, which guides players through skill development. Players may apply prize money won in events to upgrade their existing car or buy a new one, collecting a garage of vehicles.

Since Gran Turismo 5 Prologue launched on the PS3, an online aspect of the gameplay has started to evolve. GT5 Prologue has enabled users to race online with up to 16 players on track at once. Gran Turismo 4 for the PS2 was actually the first online-enabled Gran Turismo game but the online aspect of the game did not make it past beta stage.

According to Yamauchi, the cars in the first two games were made from 300 polygons,^[8] while those in Gran Turismo 3 and 4 were made up of 4,000 polygons,^[9] and the "premium cars" in Gran Turismo 5 were made up of 500,000 ("standard cars" are slightly more detailed versions of those in Gran Turismo 4).^[10]

With the release of Gran Turismo Sport, it became the first game mainly focusing on online-only racing, whereas offline is limited. However, Gran Turismo Sport provided post-release content at no charge, including cars and tracks, along with offline events, as well as bug fixes.

The most recent game in the series, Gran Turismo 7, was revealed at the 2020 PS5 Future of Gaming event on June 11, 2020.^[11] The title was developed for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5,^[12][13] with a release date of March 4, 2022. Gran Turismo 7 is the first title of the franchise to release on multiple consoles.

The series has been involved in sponsoring various sporting events and teams, including Super GT, Super Formula, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb as of November 2014,^[32] D1GP since the 2008 season, the 2004 Race of Champions, the first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight at Circuit de la Sarthe until 2012, and racing teams/drivers such as Prost Grand Prix, Pescarolo Sport, Audi/Oreca, Peugeot, Abt Sportsline, Signatech-Nissan, Audi A4 DTM, Vita4One-BMW Z4, Aston Martin Rapide S, Igor Fraga, Lewis Hamilton, and Sébastien Loeb.

Gran Turismo has partnerships with Japan Race Promotion, Brembo, Michelin, Mazda, Toyota Gazoo Racing, BBS, and Fanatec.^[33][34][35]

The series has worked with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Chaparral, Subaru, Mazda, Infiniti, Alpine, Dodge, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and various other car manufactures to come up with cars for the future with the Vision Gran Turismo project.^[36]

Participating manufacturers in the Gran Turismo World Series are Alfa Romeo, AMG, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Citroën, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lexus, Mazda, McLaren, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, and Volkswagen.^[37]

The Gran Turismo video game series has been one of the most popular over its lifetime, appealing to an audience ranging from casual gamers to fans of realistic racing sims.

Because of the success of the Gran Turismo series, Guinness World Records awarded the series 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Largest Number of Cars in a Racing Game", "Highest Selling PlayStation Game", "Oldest Car in a Racing Game", and "Largest Instruction Guide for a Racing Game". The success of the series has led to other studios creating simulation racing games similar to the franchise. It started with Sega GT, Sega's answer to the franchise, which was released on the short-lived Dreamcast console and later had a sequel on the original Xbox before the franchise died off after low sales success. Turn 10 would later create the Forza Motorsport series for the Xbox consoles, which later saw releases on Windows, which has been often seen as the primary rival of the Gran Turismo series. Other similar titles include Driving Emotion Type-S by Square and Enthusia Professional Racing by Konami.

In the final issue of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, Gran Turismo 2 was chosen as the 5th best game of all time.^[57] Edge said the first game was one of the 10 greatest video games of the last 20 years.^[58]

In 2005, Maeda Corporation, in association with Tokyo University of Science, researched the feasibility of making a real-life replica version of the fictional Grand Valley Speedway used in the series.^[59]

Gran Turismo 7 was strongly criticized by players for its implementation of microtransactions and a "pay-to-play" system. The user score in Metacritic as of 20 March 2022 is 2.2 out of 10, which is Sony's lowest user rating and the lowest score in PlayStation exclusive history on the site to date.^{[60] [61]}

As of November 16, 2022, more than 90 million copies of Gran Turismo titles have been sold.^[62]