Gran Turismo 7’s February update adds in VR support and superhuman AI race car drivers

Gran Turismo 7’s February update is almost here, adding in VR functionality, more cars, and some very fancy AI race car drivers.

Early last month Sony announced that Gran Turismo 7 would be receiving an update allowing you to use the PlayStation VR2 to play the game, and as of tomorrow’s (February 21) update, that functionality is officially ready to go. The actual headset isn’t out until February 22, so another couple of days away, though if you manage to get yours early you’ll be able to head to the race tracks in a much more immersive way already.

There’s also an exclusive VR Showroom area added as part of the update, as confirmed on a post from the official PlayStation Blog, which just lets you look at the car models in a range of locations and lighting settings. It essentially sounds like a “your dad wants to stop off at the local Audi dealership just to take a look for a little while, maybe take one out for a test spin” simulator.

A new mode called Sophy Race Together has also been added, which adds in something that’s a bit of a hot-button topic at the moment: AI. OK, sure, plenty of games have that, but this particular AI (called Sophy) has been specifically trained to play Gran Turismo 7, with multiple difficulty levels available to select. The post just kind of refers to the AI as having “superhuman racing skills,” and doesn’t do a great job of establishing what’s unique about it, but maybe worth trying out to see if it feels similar to playing against real people. It is only available for a limited time though, from February 21 to the end of March, so you might want to give it a go sooner rather than later.

A classic race track, Grand Valley, is back with this new update too, complete with a new look. Perfect for trying out the five new cars that have been added to the game, which includes the Citroën DS 21 Pallas ’70, a car that looks so futuristic it’s hard to tell whether there are even any windows.

Gran Turismo 7’s 1.29 update is available to download February 20 10pm PST/ February 21, at 6am GMT/ 3pm JST.