Fanatec Confirms Partnership with Gran Turismo

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Fanatec Gran Turismo Partnership 001.jpg
Sim hardware developer Fanatec has announced it will partner with Gran Turismo to “see the two entities work together to develop new racing peripherals that will use advanced force-feedback technology.”

Continuing their run of exciting news in the sim racing world, Fanatec has now confirmed it will be developing hardware for the Gran Turismo series in partnership with PlayStation Studios and game developer Polyphony Digital.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1414906481133211649

The partnership announcement comes not far removed from the pre-sales of the much-anticipated CSL DD wheel based from Fanatec. The €349 direct drive wheelbase has caused a lot of stir in the sim racing community with its aggressive pricing. The details of the hardware Fanatec intends to provide as part of the Gran Turismo partnership is not known yet, but a Playstation compatible version of the CSL DD seems the most likely candidate.

The news could pose a challenge to one of Fanatec’s hardware rivals, Thrustmaster. Thrustmaster has been the official hardware supplier for the FIA Gran Turismo Championship series in recent years, with contestants using their T-GT wheel and pedal set. In late June of this year, Thrustmaster announced their T-GT II wheel and pedal set, which once again carried the Gran Turismo logo and looked to be the leading candidate for Gran Turismo 7’s official competition wheel on the Playstation 5. It remains to be seen whether developer Polyphone Digital will choose Fanatec or Thrustmaster hardware for future tournaments.

The news came to us via an official press release from Fanatec and their social media channels. The statement was brief, but Fanatec declared their "aim to reduce the distinction between sim racing and real-world racing." No release date was given as part of the announcement.

Gran Turismo Sport is the most recent release in the GT series. Despite nearing 5 years in age, the title still enjoys enormous popularity, with concurrent player counts still close to 200,000. GT Sport was released in 2017 and should be succeeded by Gran Turismo 7 in 2022. The next title in the series is expected to be released on both the Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 consoles.

What do you think of this announcement? Would a comparatively inexpensive direct drive wheel for Playstation interest you? Let us know in the comments below.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

mantasisg
I know most effective way how to "aim to reduce the distinction between sim racing and real-world racing."

Get more realistic, watch real life, observe it with proper attention, learn about cars dynamics, get to know some basics well.

Not to sound elitist or anything... but people should aim to get more realistic themselves, rather than be told what is realistic by others..

Simracing, simulation games realism is based on how realistic simracers are.

So message to big companies from me. Better take a good lead into realism if you are marketing yourself doing that. Don't mess it up.
 
Slapped
Romandevison said:
It's not about elitism, it's about the fact that this game doesn't need a steering wheel.

Be less sensitive, I didn't mean to hurt you.
Click to expand...
Oh trust me, you haven't hurt me, on the contrary you made me laugh.

And you're right, GT does not need a steering wheel, and neither does AC, ACC; rFactor, R3E, BeamNG and so on and so on.

However It's highly unlikely you'd have made the comment that you did if Fanatec had partnered with one of the above mentioned sims

So then, what is it that you have against Gran Turismo? It's a game that actually brought many of us here to racedepartment.
 
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Romandevison
Bram Hengeveld said:
Corrected that for you.
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My opinion, like any other, is not dogma, so you don't have to write these words every time. But if it helps someone to perceive more adequately an opinion that differs from his or her own, I'm all for it.

Slapped said:
Oh trust me, you haven't hurt me, on the contrary you made me laugh.

And you're right, GT does not need a steering wheel, and neither does AC, ACC; rFactor, R3E, BeamNG and so on and so on.

However It's highly unlikely you'd have made the comment that you did if Fanatec had partnered with one of the above mentioned sims

So then, what is it that you have against Gran Turismo? It's a game that actually brought many of us here to racedepartment.
Click to expand...

Ah, well, okay, if so.

In this case it's a common substitution of notions, there is no desire to even seriously discuss it. GT Sport is perfectly optimized to play on dualshock, while all the listed games were created to play on the wheel.


I'm not interested Fanatec wheels. And in general it was about the need for a steering wheel for the game.

My first simracing game at a conscious age was GT Sport and I always felt great about it and spent a lot of time with it. But even if I hated this game, my first comment was left with the same rhetorical question.
 
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azaralamouri
guidofoc said:
I would like to see a review of the CSL DD compared to the T-GT II to understand if Thrustmaster are actually bringing something new and better to the market or keep trying to milk the same cow.
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The first constrictive comment. People are spitting and slapping Thrustmaster for playing around instead of doing something competetive but let's give them a fair chance and compare all those acronym technologeis to the cheaper CSL DD. If they don't deliver then it's not only you and me who will bash them but mainly their sales and profit that will teach them a lesson.
 
I
Fanatec don't sell or support where I live so it doesn't mater what they have. As a side note I just jumped into my Mercedes with my trusty PS controller but that didn't work either.
 
Metla
Premium
Pointing people towards better quality options is a great move, and if it gets Fanatec gear into the mainstream market and associated resellers then its fantastic news. I'd love to be able to call into JB HiFI and pick up a Fanatec package.
 
WhiteFox41
Fanatec's been dipping their hands into everything these days, eh? Wondering how the pricing for the DD wheel set would be
 

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