POST-LAUNCH SUPPORT AUDIT · VERIFIED

Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital · 2022 · Racing simulator

Did the studio keep supporting this game after launch? This page is the evidence.

AFTERCARE SCORE 77 Tier B · Strong Pattern: Recovery

LAUNCH CONDITIONPoor

AFTERCARE PATTERNRecovery

AUDIT STATUSVerified

A catastrophic launch and microtransaction revolt that Polyphony actually answered, followed by four and a half years of free updates still arriving.

01Score breakdown

Patch speed14 / 20

Maintenance quality15 / 20

Communication16 / 20

Player responsiveness15 / 20

Follow-through17 / 20

Five categories, 20 points each, 100 total. Full method on the methodology page.

02The evidence

Gran Turismo 7 launched March 4, 2022 to an 87 Metascore and then imploded: the 1.07 patch cut credit payouts and caused a 30-hour server outage in an always-online game, triggering review-bombing to Sony's lowest Metacritic user score ever. Kazunori Yamauchi apologized directly on the PlayStation Blog, paid 1 million free credits to affected players, doubled payouts in April updates, and Polyphony has since shipped steady free content, including the Spec II overhaul (Nov 2023, Sophy AI 2.0, Lake Louise) and the Spec IV expansion arriving October and December 2026, with no GT8 successor announced.

March 2022 1.07 payout cuts plus a 30-hour outage review-bombed GT7 to Sony's lowest Metacritic user score ever, a genuinely Poor launch.
Yamauchi issued a direct PlayStation Blog apology with 1M free credits and doubled payouts, car-selling, and endurance events in April patches, which the community largely accepted.
Free content never stopped: Spec II (Nov 2023, 7 cars, Lake Louise, Sophy 2.0) and now Spec IV (Oct and Dec 2026, 12 cars, 2 tracks, Family Mode) with physics updates like 1.71 in 2026.
The always-online requirement and expensive real-money credit pricing were never removed, capping an otherwise exemplary responsiveness record.

03Sources

01Gran Turismo 7 Creator Apologizes To Fans Over MicrotransactionsPress reportVisit 02Gran Turismo 7 players get 1M free credits after backlash over downtime, grindPress reportVisit 03The Big Free Gran Turismo 7 Spec II Update 1.40 Is Out NowPress reportVisit 04Gran Turismo 7 Upgraded to Spec 4 in October and December 2026Press reportVisit

04Audit record

Launch date: Mar 4, 2022
Evidence coverage through: Oct 8, 2026
Methodology: v1.0
Audit confidence: Medium
Why this confidence: Contemporaneous press thoroughly covers the 2022 crisis and the Spec II and Spec IV milestones, but I did not verify the middle years' month-by-month cadence directly, so the long tail rests partly on reported continuity rather than opened sources.
Score band: Strong (Tier B)

Open the interactive scorecard Get the free Steam overlay Back to the full index