Metacritic users rate Gran Turismo 7 the worst Sony game ever

Microtransactions in fully priced game is in 99% cases nothing more than greed. I can understand having some things behind paywall, like special skins, server renting, skin hosting or whatever that actually is a running cost and not a development cost. DLC is not what I'd call a microtransaction as DLC should be additional new content for the game. Not something that requires altering the game mechanics to justify the buying it for the sake of the base game and not for the new content itself.

In gt7 with the mx the developers are making the game worse on purpose just for more money. They have pushed in every way imaginable to force people to spend more credits in the game to encourage microtransactions. Slowed down career progression and minimal credit rewards. To race on daily race you need to spend hundreds of thousands of credits just to buy tires (racing soft, medium and rain), you need to buy adjustable weights and iirc power limiter for every car you want to drive online.

So just to race online you need to grind to constantly earn credits. In addition to the car itself. Then they have this always online to prevent people from editing save file to skip that grind. They take down the whole game from the internet if they find out that people can earn credits too quickly. I know I am overexxaggerating with that last one but it is not totally misleading either to say that.

GTplanet did a good article on how the in-game credits situation compares to older gt titles:

Microtransactions like done in gt7 are nothing more than making the game worse so people would skip repetitive parts of the dull gameplay with real money. It is pure greed. The worse they make the game to play the more money the people in charge think they will make.

I think gt7 would have been fine as f2p title. They have massive userbase so they can leverage those huge user numbers into many categories of match making. They could have made it like world of tanks where you just grind credits and exp and grind from 50hp historic cars to 1000hp race cars. They could sell credits, cars, special cars and whatever and people would have been happy with it because at least then the game was free. But doing all that after you have spent in some cases over 100 euros/dollars to buy a fully priced game is pure greed. Did I say greed already?

And on and on. Yet no one is required to buy anything. I'm amazed (not really) at all the complaining. No one is making anyone buy anything. You can grind, or buy if you want to. If ACC did the same thing, everyone would justify it. I've heard guys say about the upcoming DLC "Take my money! I will buy the DLC twice!" Whoo hoo. This is review-bombing at it's best. Nothing more.

Botmeister said:

Many try it, some survive, some fail. One thing is clear to me, the gaming industry is rapidly failing because of business models. It turns into a capitalistic driven greed, primairly for shareholders. And capitalism eventually leads to the fusion of small companies into large ones, in order to eliminate market competition.
Market share has become more important than creating art. Games were art, as music and movies were once an art. Good music is hard to find nowadays, games could possible share that faith soon.

Click to expand...

So what is the solution? Don’t you think capitalism drives competition and innovation?

AccAkut said:

Thanks for doing that breakdown of the actual costs of that Benz, brings everything in perspective.

How were the sales of the game so far? As PS5s are still hard/impossible to get it can't sell much on those, but this is a PS4 game too, right?

Click to expand...

Thank reddit lol

Was looking forward to playing this, my son has a ps5 and I had talked him into hooking it up to my rig....However he has now said he won't be buying this, due to the Car purchase/ Credit issue, And I'm sure as sh*t not gonna pay for a game, that's gonna take me forever or cost a fortune to get some cars I want

protonv5 said:

And on and on. Yet no one is required to buy anything. I'm amazed (not really) at all the complaining. No one is making anyone buy anything. You can grind, or buy if you want to. If ACC did the same thing, everyone would justify it. I've heard guys say about the upcoming DLC "Take my money! I will buy the DLC twice!" Whoo hoo. This is review-bombing at it's best. Nothing more.

Click to expand...

They are making the game worse on purpose. The microtransactions were hidden and kept secret and activated at the last minute at launch. Reviewers did not now know about it until the game went live. This is why ign for example (not that I care about their opinion) had to add disclaimer to their review after posting because the mx was "turned on" after they had already written their review.

Many people were not even given the opportunity to make an informed decision when buying the game. There is very little a person can do after they have bought the game except to tell others not to because how they feel about. Review bombing is fine because it is one of the few ways people can share their opinions about this in a way that could change things. In the end for sony or poly phony it is probably just a choice between do they make enough money from the mx so they can just ignore this or do they have to back off. It is not just pure greed. They kept it a secret until the last minute. Whether that is dishonest or just business as usual... I don't think it is ok either way.

Comparing this to a dlc means you just don't really understand what is being talked about here.

Nothing new under the sun of the Sony isle, they are a million years away from reality, one car just for £160? about 300€ ? someone need more tobacco on their cigarretes.

Ghoults said:

They are making the game worse on purpose. The microtransactions were hidden and kept secret and activated at the last minute at launch. Reviewers did not now know about it until the game went live. This is why ign for example (not that I care about their opinion) had to add disclaimer to their review after posting because the mx was "turned on" after they had already written their review.

Many people were not even given the opportunity to make an informed decision when buying the game. There is very little a person can do after they have bought the game except to tell others not to because how they feel about. Review bombing is fine because it is one of the few ways people can share their opinions about this in a way that could change things. In the end for sony or poly phony it is probably just a choice between do they make enough money from the mx so they can just ignore this or do they have to back off. It is not just pure greed. They kept it a secret until the last minute. Whether that is dishonest or just business as usual... I don't think it is ok either way.

Comparing this to a dlc means you just don't really understand what is being talked about here.

Click to expand...

In the time you took to write this I earned another 2 free cars in GT7.
I earned nothing in ACC. My SA went down 3 pts after being rammed at Monza though.

Very disappointing from Kaz and crew. I'm glad i hesitated on buying this game. I'm mainly a PC player so i'll stick with my Assetto Corsa and mod nirvana. Too bad, it could have been great game.

Harimau_GT said:

Very disappointing from Kaz and crew. I'm glad i hesitated on buying this game. I'm mainly a PC player so i'll stick with my Assetto Corsa and mod nirvana. Too bad, it could have been great game.

Click to expand...

I'm not. You don't need to buy anything. You can earn all the cars and enough credits to buy any car in the game. No need to spend a dime. You can if you want to of course. I said this already, but no one cares. Oh well.

protonv5 said:

I'm not. You don't need to buy anything. You can earn all the cars and enough credits to buy any car in the game. No need to spend a dime. You can if you want to of course. I said this already, but no one cares. Oh well.

Click to expand...

Hey man, i'm just glad your having fun with it. People just seem to take issue with the fact the grind and ( for those that want to ) purchasing cars are a bit too much. Kind of tarnishes the Gran Turismo name. At least for me it does. That Metacritic score. Lol.

Harimau_GT said:

Hey man, i'm just glad your having fun with it. People just seem to take issue with the fact the grind and ( for those that want to ) purchasing cars are a bit too much. Kind of tarnishes the Gran Turismo name. At least for me it does. That Metacritic score. Lol.

Click to expand...

IF they made the grind easier, people would complain about that too. 'Game lasted like 2 days and was too easy. What do I do now?' Lol.

I paid $80 for a game that's really fun, but is also a giant cash-grab (unless you want to grind forever). I've given up any hope of ever getting any of the really expensive vehicles, many of which cost over $80 in real money each. That's f'ing insane.

BillyBobSenna said:

So what is the solution? Don’t you think capitalism drives competition and innovation?

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Monopoly power (or even simply concentration of power in the hands of a few firms) takes value out of consumers' hands into the firms' pockets. Can of course be mitigated with antitrust laws or competition policy. Or new entrants into the industry (especially if creating a new niche)... but I wouldn't say the current gaming industry seems ripe for this.

I agree with @Botmeister – games years ago were of course made with the intention of making money so developers could make a living, but they seemingly were made with a different underlying logic allowing more "passion projects" that were complete and carefully bug-tested to be released. Games would seem to have been more than only making money for the parent company like any other "cash cow" item on a (real or virtual) shelf like we see today.

Early Gran Turismo games are actually great examples of such "passion projects" that were more possible years ago. Now Polyphony seems to treat GT more and more as a cash cow to be milked, which is a shame.

I never understood all the attention that it got on this website. Good that this got posted so we can end the constant flow of newsposts of GT7.

IMO GT7 is not worth any attention in the sim racing community. It's an arcade game for console gamers with microtransactions and outdated physics and graphics that requirers all pc sim gamers to buy a new steering wheel if they just want to try it and it has completely unclear VR support.

TurboT said:

IMO GT7 is not worth any attention in the sim racing community. It's an arcade game for console gamers with microtransactions and outdated physics and graphics that requirers all pc sim gamers to buy a new steering wheel if they just want to try it and it has completely unclear VR support.

Click to expand...

Incredible. Even at a time where people are otherwise willing to let any criticism of this game slide, you've somehow managed to say something so stupid that you've given me a reason to defend GT7 again. The game is a simulator whether you like it or not, hence it gets coverage on this website. Deal with it.

IceColdBeard_24 said:

Haha almost 4K user negative reviews but 87 out 100 for the press

Click to expand...

They are professionals, and as good professionals they show their loyalty to whom pays them more. The youtubers always have done the same, some have played the game almost every day for a week long, like they do when some sim needs promotion.

If some new sim don't pay them for the promotion of the title or dlc then they criticize the flaws of the game to no end until the perception of the game tanks so low that the studio has to pay the ransom to limit damage. And suddenly those same youtubers play that game all week long praising how much the sim it has improved it's flaws and how fun it is. We all know who are the usual suspects.

JayOTT said:

Incredible. Even at a time where people are otherwise willing to let any criticism of this game slide, you've somehow managed to say something so stupid that you've given me a reason to defend GT7 again. The game is a simulator whether you like it or not, hence it gets coverage on this website. Deal with it.

Click to expand...

Yes, it simulates not being able to afford a decent car and having to grind to get it unless you're a rich kid. Just the sort of escapism gaming should provide....

At least Forza Horizon injects you into the world of the spoilt brat playing in supercars.

protonv5 said:

Weird. I must not be playing the same game. I bought the game and haven't spent a penny and I'm able to buy all the cars I want with in-game credits. I don't have to spend any money at all. I can earn all the cars and tracks for free.

On the other hand, ACC for example, any new cars or tracks I have to buy with real money. There is NO way to earn anything. GT7 seems like a deal.

Click to expand...

I can only judge for GT Sports. I a few weeks i had earned more cars than I could to master..
While credits for GTSs are quite expensive if bought seperatly.

Thank god I did not pull the trigger on buying a PS5 for this when I was damn near going to. What turned me away was the always online, the Microtransaction is just the icing on the **** cake.

Let's hope Forza 8 will be stellar.