Today is Gran Turismo 6 day

Polyphony Digital released Gran Turismo 5 to car nuts around the world and its been generally very well received by critics and car lovers alike.

GT5 launched on November 2010 and has served not just as a simulation for eager budding racers, but has also been a platform for brand advertising, with Nissan using the game to promote the Skyline GT-R and Chevrolet unveiling the new Corvette C7 Stingray through a teaser car available in the game with the same real-life performance aspects of the car itself.

GT6 is expected to be announced by Polyphony Digital’s lead developer, Kazunori Yamauchi, today (15 May 2013) at a race meet at the Silverstone racetrack. The event will start at 15:00 GMT, which is 17:00 for South Africans.

GT6 Invitation

There is lots of speculation about what’s going to be included in the game and what cars it will feature. Already on the cards are two new confirmed racetracks – Silverstone Circuit and Bathusrt (the obscenely mad and fast full version). No-one yet knows what car is underneath the tarpaulin in the invitation. It could be the Subaru BRZ from the shape of the bonnet, although the wheel arches and front headlights suggest something with larger tyres from an American manufacturer (UPDATE: Its the Ferrari 599 GTO).

The invitation was preceded by a trailer featuring a racing driver in the Nissan Skyline GT-R GT5 pace car overtaking cars on the Silverstone racetrack, with each car representing the previous versions of the series. Load up the video in 720p and pause at 0:04, 0:17 – that appears to be in-game footage because the tarmac, clouds in the sky, and buildings look a little more CG and very different to the actual footage shot with the pace car in the frame.

There won’t be a live stream of the event, although several websites will be covering the launch through live blogs and Twitter. If you’re a GT fan, head to GTPlanet later on to catch up on it all as it happens.