Gran Turismo 7‘s February update is a big one as it marks the public debut of its GT Sophy AI system.
Players can compete against the next level of competitive racing AI in a new free Race Together special event. While players are familiar with AI drivers in the world of racing, the new Sophy system shifts gear with more intelligent and human-like decision making.
While this is the first time the public will get their hands on the new racing opponent, others have already battled the Sophy AI, with results far surpassing that of the default AI drivers. Now in the new game mode Race Together, players on the PlayStation 5 will experience the breakthrough AI racing agent for themselves.
AI driver
Race Together is a time-limited event that gives players of all skill levels a chance to go head-to-head against GT Sophy. Players can challenge the AI driver in four races of varying difficulties. Players will compete against four GT Sophy cars of different performance levels in each race. For those looking for an even bigger challenge, there is the option to challenge GT Sophy in a 1vs1 race with identical car configurations.
Sophy GT will also feature a unique emoticon that displays the emotions on the GT Sophy cars during a race to indicate how the AI reacts to what is happening on the track. Race Together will be available until late March, giving players plenty of time to go head-to-head with the new AI driver.
While this is a timed event, we will likely see the GT Sophy AI driver make more appearances on the track in the future. With the rise of AI, these types of systems could help to redefine the future of NPCs in video games. In a recent survey, 99% of gamers believed that including advanced AI NPCs would positively impact gameplay.
VR support
Today also marks the day of the highly anticipated launch of PlayStation’s PSVR 2, which is just the right time for this new in-game update. Minus the two-player split screen mode, players can now experience Gran Turismo 7 in virtual reality with the new Sony headset.
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
