I’m glad we’re celebrating 25 years since the first release of the Gran Turismo series.
Back in 1992, Gran Turismo was the first project plan I created out of almost 100 other plans that I came up with at the beginning of my career in this industry, so it meant a lot to me.
Although making video games has been my hobby since I was 10 years old, I never thought about making it a career.
I founded a film production club when I was 14 years old and already produced films, so I first joined Sony in the hopes of creating visual products. But the part they gave me was not what I expected.
That’s the part where the PlayStation console is about to start operating and where Kutaragi-san is working hard to bring the PlayStation concept to life.
The place was not what I expected, but looking back now, you can say I was very lucky.
I was mesmerized by the real-time 3D graphics that many have been waiting for, and created and presented plans for all kinds of video games, not just limited to racing games but also video games. role-playing games, adventure games, action games, puzzle games, etc.
As a result, Gran Turismo used a more fantasy racing game format in “Motor Toon Grand Prix,” becoming one of the first first-party titles for the PlayStation, but if plans are for something else. other than the racing game that’s the plan that’s been approved, it’s possible that today I’ve created another title besides Gran Turismo.
Then the Gran Turismo project began by assembling a team of two part-time artists and three engineers.
From there, the number of comrades continued to grow for more than a quarter of a century, and became Polyphony Digital today, a company with more than 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 with the same team.
The founding members of the company are still working on the front lines, and I am grateful and proud that all of our 200 employees are a team with the same drive and love as the early days of the company. company.
Over the past 25 years, the cumulative sales of the series have reached more than 90 million copies as of November 16, 2022.
And this result is something that we alone cannot achieve.
Behind that 90 million number are all the media people who have conveyed the appeal of Gran Turismo to their readers. There are PlayStation folks who have sold us GTs around the world with passion and an incredible amount of support from the retailers who have communicated with our users.
My sincere thanks go to all of them for their support.
And most of all, I can never thank enough GT users and people in the GT community for playing our new titles, which can sometimes be said to be very experimental.
We are here today thanks to everyone who has supported us.
I believe that the Gran Turismo line always pursues “Beauty”. The beauty of the car, the beauty of the landscape, the beauty of the lights, the beauty of driving, the beauty of sound/music and the beauty of graphics.
“The pursuit of beauty” is the driving force behind the creation of Gran Turismo.
We have a renewed determination to keep moving into the future with a strong sense of purpose.
We appreciate all your support over the past 25 years. Thank you.
