One of the most well-known racing game series around, one of the secrets to Gran Turismo series longevity is its highly detailed circuits and car models. Not to forget, it is also made exclusively made for PlayStation consoles.
In 2015, Gran Turismo will have its own FIA-sanctioned tournament called the FIA Online Championship; thanks to the newly signed long-term partnership between the world motoring organization and the game’s creator, Polyphony Digital.
Not much details regarding the championship are available at the moment but we believed that the FIA Online Championship is along the same idea as FIFA’s collaboration with EA Sports that lead to the creation of FIFA Interactive World Cup. It is rather interesting to see that Gran Turismo is going to become an actual FIA-sanctioned race series even though several FIA championships actually have their own video games such as the Formula 1 game series by Codemasters and World Rally Championship by Milestone, just to name a few.
Meanwhile, the partnership between the two organizations has also resulted in four of Gran Turismo 6 circuits being certified by FIA. The name of these circuits were not mentioned though if you wonder how does FIA certify virtual circuits, FIA officials apparently conducted the inspection by “accurately comparing” those circuits in Gran Turismo 6 with FIA standards. Other circuits within the game will be subjected to similar inspection in the near future.
This latest round of partnership is hardly the first time that the company has managed to link Gran Turismo to elements from real world motoring since the company is also responsible for the highly successful GT Academy program through its collaboration with Nissan. Not to forget, Polyphony Digital has also collaborated with plenty of other manufacturers and motorsports outfits throughout the world to help bring their visions into Gran Turismo and in certain cases, to real life as well.
[Source: Gran Turismo Official Website]
