the launch of Grand Touring 7 This is surely one of the most upset we have seen in recent times. The new installment in the Polyphony Digital saga has only garnered praise from specialized critics but, on the other hand, it has been massacred by players. To the point of becoming The lowest rated Sony game on Metacritic.
At the time of writing this article, Grand Touring 7 to have a score of only 1.8 among user reviews on the aforementioned platform. And it’s already been dipping for several days, with a number of negative reviews that already borders on the absurd. Of the more than 6,600 reviews applied, 5,572 are negative, 154 are mixed and only 904 are positive; this results in “overwhelming disgust” from the audience.
But how is this possible when the vast majority of analyzes published by the press are extremely positive? In fact, you can also read the one we posted in hypertextual at the beginning of this month. If we’re guided by what’s seen in Metacritic, the overall score among critics is 87, with 104 positives, 4 mixed, and no negatives. In addition, many media gave the maximum rating of 100 to Grand Touring 7.
The answer to why the game has such a bad reputation with the public is simple: We are talking about bombing review. It’s about “punishing” developers with a bad rating for settling disagreement with one or more game-related decisions. It doesn’t mean the title itself is bad, but it does mean there’s dissatisfaction massive regarding some of its aspects.
This is clearly not a new technique in the video game industry, but the reasons behind the case Grand Touring 7 they are really eye-catching.
Micro-transactions, very expensive cars and less credits
From the outset, the actors did not take kindly to the prices incorporated by Grand Touring 7 in its micro-transaction system, both when it comes to game credits and purchases made with real money. It’s that the values of many cars included in the catalog have multiplied in comparison with Grand Touring Sport.
Thus, for example, the Audi R18 TDI (2011) which cost 2.99 dollars in GT Sport, was sold for 3 million credits or 40 dollars in GT7. And in the case of “legendary” models, the situation is even worse since the price is dynamic and runs the Hagerty Company, which is dedicated to real-life car appraisals and insurance.
So it’s no surprise that the McLaren F1 is now trading for well over 15 million credits, or requiring an outlay of between $150 and $200 to get it, when it cost 1,000,000 credits. in GT-Sport. However, it is clear that the users’ disagreement is justified, especially when they have already paid 70 dollars make a copy of Grand Touring 7.
But the final debacle began last Thursday, March 17, with the release of a new patch (version 1.07). He himself included a payout change that was achieved in some races; In this way, not only was the price of the cars considerably higher than in the previous games of the saga, but now it was also more difficult to collect the credits necessary to buy them.
If we go back to the McLaren F1, it is estimated that after the update it would take around 30 hours to get enough credits to acquire it. A real madness, especially for what it would be tedious. But to this it must also be added that Grand Touring 7 does not allow players to sell cars in their garage; which means that it is impossible to reinvest these credits in other models.
Grand Touring 7 was virtually unplayable for over 24 hours
And as if updating wasn’t enough, Grand Touring 7 it was more than a whole day being practically unplayable. This was due to an issue encountered when patch 1.07 was released, which prevented the game from launching properly. With the issue affecting both PS4 and PS5, the servers had to be put into maintenance.
But what really angered fans was the lack of communication during the nearly 30 hours the game was restricted. What Grand Touring 7 requires internet connection even for single player campaign mode, users could only access Arcade mode when servers were offline.
It is therefore not surprising that the vast majority of negative reviews published on Metacritic are from March 17 and 18 – the days of the patch and the game crash –.
Players feel like they’ve betrayed their trust
Review the reviews that users have made to Grand Touring 7 a common feeling is observed: discomfort. “The game looks good and the gameplay is fun, but the always-online requirement and the micro-transactions completely ruin it. It’s clear that all decisions are made to get more money from users “said one user.
“I paid £70 for the game and content but it’s locked behind an extremely ridiculous pricing scheme which makes the game not worth playing unless I spend days playing it. earn enough to buy my dream cars,” said another.
“I had and played all the Grand tourism Since the first. GT7 it’s the main reason I jumped through many hoops to get a PS5. Polyphony Digital’s decision to push micro-transactions and always-online requirements even to play single-player modes is downright embarrassing,” added a third party.
This is just a small sample. The list of critics is long, but virtually all that are added point in the same direction.
he can Grand Touring 7 reverse the disappointment of the public?
It is difficult today to know if Sony and Polyphony Digital will be able to reverse the wrong image What Grand Touring 7 was won among the players. In recent days, Kazunori Yamauchi, CEO of the development studio, posted a message apologizing to players for what happened during the long time with offline servers. And he also left some striking statements about highly controversial micro-transactions.
At Grand Touring 7 I would like users to enjoy many cars and races even without micro-transactions. At the same time, the price of cars is a relevant element that conveys their value and rarity, so I think it’s important to relate it to real prices. I want to do GT7 a game where you can enjoy a variety of cars in different ways and if possible I would like to try to avoid a situation where a player has to mechanically keep replaying certain events over and over again.
[…] It hurts me not to be able to explain the specifics on this at this time, but we plan to continue to review GT7 so that as many players as possible can enjoy the game. We would really appreciate it if everyone could look at the growth of Gran Turismo 7 from a longer term perspective.
Kazunori Yamauchi, CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of Gran Turismo
Will be able Grand Touring 7 from reverse disappointment public ? It is more than clear that the game has many positive aspects, both on the technical side and on the playability side. However, fans feel like they’ve been hit unceremoniously, having made the effort to buy a game that isn’t cheap in the first place.
the saga of GT has a very loyal following, and we have a feeling Sony and Polyphony Digital need to come up with something soon to show them that the release of GT7 it was not founded on the philosophy of making as much money as possible in any way, no matter what.
