With Need for Speed->ke3700 and Forza Motorsport 6 dominating the car racing video game headlines in recent days, it only seemed inevitable that the third leg in this tripod would create some headlines of its own. And so it is like clockwork, Sony and Polyphony Digital, the creators of the Gran Turismo->ke3689 video game franchise, have done just that by announcing the release date – November 15, 2016 – of Gran Turismo Sport, the latest iteration of the long-standing racing game title.

Neither Sony nor Polyphony Digital dove into the specifics of the game, opting only to say that Gran Turismo Sport will be the “world’s first racing experience to be built from the ground up to bring global, online competitions sanctioned by the highest governing body of international motorsports, the FIA (Federation International Automobile)." From the looks of things, Gran Turismo Sport will be heavily geared towards motor racing, although it will still prominently feature an assortment of production and track-only cars ranging from the new Mazda MX-5 Miata to the McLaren P1 GTR.

The game will only be available on PlayStation 4 (obviously) and while there’s still six months before it hits the shelves, pre-orders have just begin, which means that interested customers who avail of this option can already do so. There are some perks that come with pre-ordering video games and in the case of Gran Turismo Sport, those who avail of this option will also receive a three car package that includes a Ford Mustang->ke428 Group B rally car, a Toyota FT-1 Vision GT Group 3 race car, and the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1. Those who order on Amazon will also receive $500,000 worth of in-game credit whereas those who pre-order from GameStop will receive two extra cars in addition to the three that are already included in the car pack.

Those who want more than just the standard game also have the option of ordering the GT Sport Limited Edition package. It comes with a price of $69.99 and in addition to the game itself and all the preordering goodies, this pack also boasts of “immediate access” to cars within various race classes, $1 million worth of in-game credits, and a limited edition packaging.

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Why it matters

If sales figures are to be considered the true barometer of a video game’s success, Gran Turismo 6 could be considered a massive flop when compared against the other numbered games in the Gran Turismo family. To date, GT6 has yet to reach 5 million total sales since it was launched in 2013, an embarrassing haul considering that its predecessor, Gran Turismo 5, sold close to 12 million units during its three-year run.

A number of factors can be attributed to this, but the point is this: Sony and Polyphony Digital need a lot of making up to do in the hopes that GT6 will turn into the exception, rather than the first sign of things to come.

So yes, the minds behind the GT franchise are banking that Gran Turismo Sport will redeem some of the shine it lost with GT6. Whether that happens or not is still anyone’s guess, but there are a couple of things that will happen within the year in the PlayStation universe that could define the success or failure of GTS. On the bright side, it’s the first Gran Turismo title, numbered or otherwise, that will be exclusively available for the PlayStation 4. That’s a win in it of itself. But, it’s also weird that Sony would only launch its first Gran Turismo game for the PS4 more than two years after the console was launched in late 2013. Timing was one of the biggest issues of Gran Turismo 6 because the game was released for the PlayStation 3 mere months before the PS4 was launched and oddly enough, we Sony could find itself in a similar predicament with the reported launch of the PlayStation 4.5 in September 2016.

Do the math and you’ll realize that Gran Turismo Sport for the PS4 will be launched two months after the PS4.5 hits the market. The good news is that Gran Turismo Sport should be playable in both consoles, albeit with two different modes: base for the PS4 and NEO for the PS4.5. Sony didn’t offer that feature to Gran Turismo 6 when it was released for the PS3 so at least the company learned some lessons in that regard.