Gran Turismo 7: series music composer soundtracking new GT game?

leading composer of the Gran Turismo soundtracks has been spied in a recording studio with the team behind the franchise, fuelling rumours of an upcoming new entry in the hit PlayStation 4 series.

A fan has posted a series of images on Twitter showing Daiki Kasho at the NightBird studio in West Hollywood - not far from the offices where Polyphony Digital develops the racing game series in Venice, California, reports gaming news site GTPlanet.

The images were originally posted on the Facebook account of Polyphony Digital audio chief Alex Breuer.

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Although Kasho may simply have been creating engines sounds for Gran Turismo Sport, the crowd of people pictured with him in the studio suggests that the team is working on a larger project - possibly the rumoured Gran Turismo 7.

It’s no secret that a new entry into the Gran Turismo series is in the pipeline.

Last year, franchise creator Kazunori Yamauchi told Japanese site Game Watch that he began developing the next Gran Turismo title “from the moment [I] released GT [Sport]” at the end of 2017.

Don’t expect a new Gran Turismo title to appear any time soon, though: Polyphony Digital usually launches a new title once every four to five years.

That means there may be a couple of years to go until players can take the next Gran Turismo game for a test drive.

In the meantime, are all the rumours and reports around the next Gran Turismo:

Will it feature more offline modes?

Yes. In an interview with GTPlanet last month, Yamauchi said he would be looking to add more offline content to the series, which has so far focused mainly on online multiplayer gaming.

He said these offline events could take the form of licence tests - a staple of the racing series - along with more driving missions, including challenges where players have to lap circuits within a certain time limit.

However, he added: “Whether or not that is going to be in GT Sport, I don’t know.”

What will the new title be called?

GT Sport is widely considered a multiplayer-focused off-shoot of the main series of games, the last of which was Gran Turismo 6 from 2013.

With Yamauchi announcing his intentions of focusing on offline gameplay, there’s a good chance the next game will be a direct successor to GT6 - and therefore carry the GT7 name.

How will it be different to GT Sport?

GT7 is expected to take some of the online elements that has made GT Sport a hit with PS4 players and blend then with the car collecting elements from the main series.

That means fans can expect GT7 to have hundreds of cars to collect and drive. And while it may not top the impress car count of GT6, which boasted over 1,300 models, GT7 will have significantly more vehicles than GT Sport’s roster of around 270 cars.

Esports will also play a significant role in GT7.

GTPlanet says that around 3.5 million players have taken part in “casual” online events since GT Sport launched two years ago. The series’ online competitions have also managed to successfully turn some gamers into real-world racing drivers, such as former Le Mans driver Jann Mardenborough.

TGT7 will also feature a new game engine, says gadget news site Comicbook, which anticipates a cutting-edge lighting feature called “ray-tracing”. The technology is able to replicate natural light far better than the systems used in today’s games.

Will it launch on the PS5?

Possibly. Sony is being tipped to announce its new PlayStation 5 console at some point in 2019, with a launch date in early 2020. As GT7 isn’t expected to launch in the near future, there’s a good chance Polyphony Digital will skip the PS4 and go straight to the new console.

Speaking to Australian news site Finder in 2017, Yamauchi said that his development team “over-specced” the level of detail for the cars in GT Sport, as they were created with “future versions” of the PlayStation in mind.