The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the creators of the highly-acclaimed Gran Turismo series, Polyphony Digital Inc., today announced exciting plans for a long-term innovative partnership.
The FIA’s role as the governing body of motor sport worldwide, and the representative of almost 80 million road and track users from 141 countries on five continents, will help grow the direct relationship between the millions of fans of Gran Turismo and the real-world of motorsport.
To mark the start of this collaboration, Gran Turismo 6 will become the first-ever video game to feature FIA-certified content. Gran Turismo 6 for PlayStation 3, which launched late last year, has been granted an FIA certification for four of the game’s world-famous tracks. The virtual circuits in Gran Turismo have been recreated in intricate detail. The track inspection for each was conducted by FIA officials who visited PDI’s development studio of in Tokyo, where Gran Turismo 6 track models were accurately compared to FIA standards. Other tracks included in Gran Turismo 6 will be subject to inspection in order to obtain certification by the FIA in the near future.
As a second key element of the partnership, FIA & PDI plan to launch an official FIA Online Championship in 2015 with the intention of offering the large number of Gran Turismo players and motor sport fans the opportunity to engage with real motor sport.