Pikes Peak Hill Climb May be Exclusively Licensed to the Gran Turismo Series
January 31st, 2017 by Brendan Rorrison
Coming to a Gran Turismo near you?
Pikes Peak has had a bit of a checkered history with the Gran Turismo franchise. The 12-mile hill climb made its first (and only) appearance—in a condensed form—in
Gran Turismo 2 and since then has remained absent from the series. In what seems to becoming a common occurrence though, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb continues to threaten a return to the franchise thanks to
an article by media outlet Eurogamer and a peculiar choice of words within.
The main focus of the piece is actually a preview of the
recently announced DiRT 4 and details the direction the game will take when it releases June this year. GT’s name pops up during a section talking about the troubles being faced by Codemasters in terms of picking up licenses and using them within its titles.
Unsurprisingly, BigBen Interactive’s WRC series is pinpointed as a reason why no official rally stages are included within the game but we also get confirmation that Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will not be returning.
The track appeared in 2015’s
critically-acclaimed DiRT Rally so there must have been a legitimate reason for it’s exclusion and according to the article, it’s a biggie: “Gran Turismo now has sole rights to Pikes Peak,” says Eurogamer’s Martin Robinson.
It’s certainly a shock to see this written in plain sight. We’ve not yet had any confirmation of the track appearing in this year’s
Gran Turismo Sport, and the track hasn’t appeared in the series for nearly two decades. In a very similar circumstance,
Red Bull claimed Pikes Peak would appear in Gran Turismo 5 way back in 2010. This was unfounded and the track did not appear in the finished title, nor in its 2013 successor.
In May last year however,
Kazunori Yamauchi provided a statement of intent that he wished to include the track within the series at some point. The GT founder didn’t mention any sort of time-frame for the track to be included but perhaps the delay announced last year was partly influenced by the acquisition of the Pikes Peak license?
We’ll not know for sure until Pikes Peak is formally addressed by Polyphony Digital—given the situation, we’d advise taking the above quote with a pinch of salt.
Pikes Peak’s last video-game appearance was in DiRT Rally and will not be returning to the series in the next entry…
Exclusivity deals aren’t universally agreed to be a positive aspect of the racing genre. Whilst the argument can be made that holding the rights ensures an accurate representation of the acquisition in question, Gran Turismo fans can vouch that this isn’t always the case with GT5’s lackluster WRC and NASCAR showings being a prime example.
With no definitive confirmation of Eurogamer and Codemasters’ claim, it seems we’ll have to wait in order to see the full extent of Gran Turismo’s partnership with Pikes Peak
outside of sponsoring the real-life event. We’ll cover any further developments as they come in.
Thanks to GTPlanet user GranTurismo guy for bringing this to our attention in the forums!
Polyphony Digital Expands Hiring Search To English Applicants
January 31st, 2017 by Ali Samy
Fancy working for one of Sony’s biggest first-party studios and the creators of Gran Turismo? If so, then you’re in luck, as Polyphony Digital recently updated
its recruitment page with a variety of job positions. The full list is below:
- UI Designer
- GT Explore Studio
- AI Engineer
- Online Engineer
- Graphics Engineer
- Game Engine Development Engineer
- Game Script Engineer
- Sound Development Engineer
- Mobile Application Engineer
- Internal Tool Development Engineer
- Car Simulation Development Engineer
- Physics Engine Development Engineer
- CG Artist
- Technical Artist
It’s worth noting that this time Polyphony is looking for those who are proficient in English, and the listings state that accepted candidates will work in Polyphony’s Japanese studios in Fukuoka and Tokyo (as well as Amsterdam and Los Angeles in the case of the GT Explore Studio).
This isn’t the first time
Polyphony has gone on a hiring spree but it is interesting that expansion is continuing in various areas close to the
promised release of
Gran Turismo Sport later this year. Back in 2015, Polyphony made waves when it was revealed
the team had poached previous Forza sound man Mike Caviezel for a Senior Audio Lead position.
Here is the
link to the full list of job openings from PD’s website.
Thanks to AKps3 for the tip.
