Recap: Polyphony Digital made some blunders recently that stirred up a lot of emotion among fans. A rebalancing patch that tilted the scale in favor of microtransactions and the game being shut down for 24 hours generated so much blowback that Kazunori Yamauchi apologized to fans.
Last week’s Gran Turismo 7 patch and outage left players with a very bad taste in their mouths. So bad, in fact, that players review-bombed the game on Metacritic, earning it the lowest Metacritic user score for any Sony game ever. Game director Kazunori Yamauchi recently acknowledged the incident, issuing players both one million free credits and his assurance that additional changes are coming in April to balance the game’s reward system.
In a Playstation blog post, Yamauchi’s statement thanks fans for their continued support and assures them that their recent concerns are being addressed. The barrage of criticism resulted from an unplanned maintenance extension that made the game unplayable for over 24 hours and Patch 1.07’s revisions to the game’s reward system that turned earning credits into a joyless, never-ending grind.
Players viewed the changes as a deliberate move to force more microtransactions using real-world money to obtain in-game currency, known as credits. Credits are used to buy new cars and make performance or cosmetic modifications to currently owned vehicles. At their current in-game price, some legendary vehicles could cost as much as $200 (or just over €182) in credits.
Yamauchi, Polyphony’s President and father of the Gran Turismo series, informed users that another patch should be expected in early April to increase events, reestablish the rewards system, and bring more overall balance to the game. Specific changes highlighted in the blog post include:
- Increasing rewards for later World Circuit events.
- Online races.
- Endurance races.
- Increasing the overall availability of used and Legendary cars available for purchase.
Yamauchi also said additional patches through the end of April would continue providing players with new cars, new courses, and game enhancements.
The one million credit goodwill gesture from Polyphony should be available in player accounts soon, though Yamauchi gave no specific date in the post. Players must log into the game before April 25 to claim the credits. The little bonus should go a long way after the game’s upcoming patches and revisions.