GT Sport screenshot
A screenshot of Gran Turismo Sport Sony

PS4 racer Gran Turismo Sport has been delayed from its original November launch date until next year, Sony has confirmed. In a statement on the PlayStation Blog, developer Polyphony Digital's CEO and series creator Kazunori Yamauchi said the decision was reached to allow for "more time to perfect GT Sport".

"While we cannot confirm a new release date at this time, we are more committed than ever to making GT Sport the best Gran Turismo game to date," read the statement.

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"GT Sport will continue to be shown at several gaming events around the world. I hope everyone has the opportunity to experience first-hand the yet-to-be revealed cutting edge experiences that will be achieved by GT Sport. Thank you for all your continued support."

Announced in late October 2015 at Paris Games Week, we learned more about the game at an event in May – at which Polyphony revealed that the game would feature 137 vehicles, 27 tracks and an offline campaign mode with 117 events.

This is in addition to focus on multiplayer, and in particular eSports, with live competitions and events a regular component of Polyphony's post-release plans. These will include an online championship recognised by the FIA.

Gran Turismo VR will also be playable with Sony's PlayStation VR virtual reality headset.

Below is the complete statement from Polyphony:

"Hello GT community. I want to share the news that we have made the difficult decision to delay the release of Gran Turismo Sport. GT Sport is Polyphony's foremost competitive gaming title, with high expectations from both the fans and from within our team.

From the start, the title has been one of our most ambitious undertakings, using the latest technologies, such as physics-based rendering and sound simulations, and Scapes photo mode. In combining these features with a new Sport mode, we are offering a competitive gaming experience to truly reinvent what it means to be a racing game. We've been excited and humbled by the response each time we've shared new gameplay with everyone.

However, as we approach our planned release date in November, we realise we need more time to perfect GT Sport, to which we've already dedicated so much effort to since announcing the title, and do not want to compromise the experience. While we cannot confirm a new release date at this time, we are more committed than ever to making GT Sport the best Gran Turismo game to date.

GT Sport will continue to be shown at several gaming events around the world. I hope everyone has the opportunity to experience first-hand the yet-to-be revealed cutting edge experiences that will be achieved by GT Sport. Thank you for all your continued support."

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Gran Turismo Sport