Gran Turismo 7's PSVR 2 update introduces GT Sophy, its unbeatable racing AI
Now you can get your butt handed to you in virtual reality
Alongside the launch of PSVR 2, developer Polyphony Digital has released a VR update for Gran Turismo 7 to bring the lauded racing sim to Sony’s next-gen headset.
While the prospect of burning rubber in virtual reality in one of the best PS5 games around is pretty exciting in itself, the update also introduces GT Sophy, the cutting-edge AI racing opponent that Polyphony and Sony have been plugging away at for the past several months.
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: GT Sophy is here
🆕 Gran Turismo 7 has received a new VR update
🥽 It adds compatibility with the recently released PSVR 2
🦹♀️ Polyphony has also rolled out its “superhuman” racing AI, GT Sophy
⌛ You can try to beat it in a time-limited event
You can take on the AI (which Sony is really hyping up, calling it a “revolutionary superhuman AI racing agent”, just in case you thought one superlative was insufficient) in the new Gran Turismo Sophy Race Together mode.
It’s available as a time-limited event from February 21 to the end of March, although Sony hasn’t announced an exact finishing date. You’ll be able to race four GT Sophy players of different difficulties across four circuits, and also challenge the AI one-on-one with identical car configurations and settings, which will supposedly show off its extraordinary racing skills.
You can select the new mode from the GT7 World Map and race against GT Sophy once you’ve reached Collector Level 6. But be warned, it’s supposed to be an exceedingly difficult opponent.
The mode is something of a sneak peek rather than a full release of GT Sophy. In a blog post, Sony said “player feedback on this initial special feature will be used to continually improve the GT Sophy Race Together mode feature for future releases”.
The update adds plenty of other features, too, most significantly full VR support. You can now play every race and game mode of Gran Turismo 7 in VR (except split-screen mode, of course), and access a new “VR Showroom” from the in-game garage or car dealerships, which lets you walk around and admire the ultra HD renders of the vehicles.
It sounds like the port’s been developed to showcase the next-gen PSVR 2 specs, including the device’s foveated rendering and eye-tracking, which allows it to render the areas of the screen your eyes are looking at in high definition in real-time.
The Gran Turismo 7 VR port is one of the big hitters of the PSVR 2 launch lineup, and is joined by Horizon Call of the Mountain, Resident Evil Village and plenty of other PSVR 2 games.
Still on the fence about Sony’s latest hardware? Read our breakdown of whether ‘is PSVR 2 is worth it?’ for our thoughts on who should pick it up and who’s best off giving it a miss.