I am very happy to be able to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of the Gran Turismo series.
In 1992, Gran Turismo was the first project plan I created out of nearly 100 other project plans that came to mind when I started my career in this industry, so it means a lot to me.
I started making games as a hobby when I was 10 years old, but never thought of making it a profession.
At the age of 14, I started a film production club and started making films, so I joined Sony because I wanted to make films. However, the department I was assigned to was not what I expected.
It was a department where the PlayStation was imminent, and where Mr. Kutagi was desperately trying to make the PlayStation concept a reality.
That place wasn’t what I was hoping for, but looking back on it now, I can say I was very lucky.
Fascinated by the real-time 3D graphics that many people have been waiting for, he has created and released plans for not only racing games, but all kinds of video games, including RPGs, adventure games, action games, and puzzle games.
As a result, Gran Turismo adopted a more fantasy racing game format with the “Motor Toon Grand Prix” and became one of the first 1st party titles for the PlayStation, although if there were any plans other than racing games, it would not be approved. Therefore, it is possible that I was working on a title other than Gran Turismo today.
The Gran Turismo project then began by gathering a team of two part-time artists and three engineers.
More than a quarter of a century later, the number of associates has continued to grow, and today Polyphony Digital is a company with over 200 employees.
I don’t think there are many video game franchises in the world that have continued for 25 years with the same title and the same team.
The founding members are still active on the front lines, and I am grateful and proud that all 200 staff members are a team with the same ambition and love as when the company was founded.
As of November 16, 2022, the total number of series sold over the past 25 years has exceeded 90 million.
And this result is something we could not have achieved on our own.
Behind this figure of 90 million people are the people involved in the media who conveyed the appeal of Gran Turismo to readers. There were people at PlayStation who sold his GT with passion all over the world, and there was incredible support from the dealers who interacted with users.
Thank you very much for your support.
And most of all, I would like to thank all the GT users and the GT community for playing this very experimental new title.
We are here today because of all the people who have supported us.
I think that the Gran Turismo series has always pursued “beauty”. Beauty of cars, beauty of scenery, beauty of lighting, beauty of driving, beauty of sound and music, beauty of graphics.
The pursuit of beauty is the driving force behind Gran Turismo.
We have a renewed determination to keep moving forward into the future with a strong sense of purpose.
Thank you for all your support over the past 25 years. Thank you very much.
