GT Sport drops dynamic time-of-day and weather changes to keep up performance

Dynamic time and weather won't be an option in the latest Gran Turismo game. If you're not clear on what that is, it means GT Sport will allow cars to move while the sun and general weather patterns remain intractably fixed in the sky and/or beyond the horizon; whatever options you pick for the start of the race is also how it will look at the finish line.

Certain tracks in Gran Turismo 6 allowed for changing time-of-day and weather patterns, which are both factors that obviously affect real-life races. But series producer Kazunori Yamauchi told GTPlanet that, in this case, allowing for more freedom wasn't worth the performance trade off.

“We opted to not have the transitions in the race this time in order to raise the frame rate and the quality of the image during the race," Yamauchi said. "So the user will be able to set that before they enter the race. So you’ll still be able to have night races, morning, races at dawn, dusk, and so on.”

Yamauchi also confirmed that Gran Turismo Sport will include 20-car starting grids for the first time in the series' history. It may even allow more cars on the track, but Yamauchi said the studio will prioritize keeping the game's performance synthetic-oil-smooth first. It's planned for release on November 16 in the US and November 18 in the UK.

Seen something newsworthy? Tell us!

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Latest in Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 4
Gran Turismo 4 cheat codes have finally been discovered after nearly 20 years
Gran Turismo
The reaction to Gran Turismo 7 in PSVR 2 is near unanimous: "mind-blowing"
Gran Turismo 7 best starting cars toyota aqua race
Gran Turismo 7 series lead is "looking into" bringing the racing game to PC
Gran Turismo 7 press kit image Porsche 911
Gran Turismo 7 update drops later this week and brings 3 new cars
Gran Turismo 7
Gran Turismo 7's first free content update adds 3 new cars
Gran Turismo 7 Ferrari F40 press image
Gran Turismo 7's unconventional design makes it a 'real racing simulator' for (almost) everyone
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"