This is news worth its weight in gold. Polyphony Digital, developer of the famous Gran Turismo, and Fanatec have signed a partnership! It’s a sensational announcement, and one that can’t have pleased the teams at Thrustmaster, who have held a monopoly on the Gran Turismo license for over a decade. Thrustmaster has also just released a T-GT 2, which has not met with unanimous approval.
Gran Turismo and Fanatec: what to expect?
Since the release of the CSL Elite, Fanatec has been constantly seeking to expand its audience among console gamers, while creating mid-range steering wheels of superior quality to the competition.
The announcement of the CSL DD, Fanatec’s first “low-cost” Direct Drive base, was a great kick in the pants and, above all, a slap in the face to an industry that was clearly taking the less fortunate gamers for a ride.
This partnership between Gran Turismo and Fanatec means one thing:
Fanatec has a great opportunity to knock out its competitors and capture the consumer market. After all, Gran Turismo is certainly the best-known sim-arcade game in the world!
In any case, in its press release, Polyphony acknowledges the quality and innovation Fanatec has been offering for many years:
Fanatec is one of the leading manufacturers of peripherals dedicated to car simulation, and has been for many years.
While the quality and performance of their products are impressive, it’s their drive to innovate in motorsport that most resonates with us. Polyphony Digital and Fanatec share the same spirit and ambition.
I can’t wait to see what we can create together.
Kazunori Yamauchi, Gran Turismo series producer
The fruit of this union: GT DD PRO
No sooner has the official announcement of this union between Gran Turismo and Fanatec been published than a leak has been released!
Former GT Academy regional finalist Esteban Sarmiento posted the photo on his Twitter account:
No, you’re not dreaming, this is the base CSL DD with a Gran Turismo wheel. And what will delight Fanatec fans is that this base will be PS4 and PS5 compatible!
The GT DD Pro will therefore be the Gran Turismo and Playstation-compatible version of the long-awaited CSL DD.
On the wheel, you’ll recognize the 4 rotary knobs found on the Thrustmaster T-GT and T-GT 2. The overall look is a far cry from Fanatec’s usual offerings. This is only to be expected, since Polyphony has always been responsible for its wheel designs.
I can only hope that the finish will be up to Fanatec standards.
Suspense…
For the moment, that’s all we know about the partnership between Gran Turismo and Fanatec. There’s no word on pricing, nor on any special features that might be included in the products resulting from this union.
But to be very clear, if Fanatec manages to release a complete configuration for less than âŹ750… This would be the death knell for the Thrustmaster T-GT 2, which would already be surpassed by the competition.
Right now, all we know is that Fanatec will be making an announcement very soon to make us drool over its new products!
