Is Gran Turismo 7 Open World?

Gran Turismo 7 is the latest entry in the popular Sony-exclusive racing simulator series. It has plenty of new cars and a wide selection of tracks while boasting many returning features like accessibility-improving assists and split-screen multiplayer. Between these features and the many technical improvements found within, there’s certainly a lot to love about this driving simulator. However, with more games embracing the idea of an open world—including Forza, Microsoft’s own racing series—some might wonder if Gran Turismo has finally been able to join the ranks. Does Gran Turismo 7 feature an open world?

Can Players Explore an Open World in Gran Turismo 7?

Unfortunately, Gran Turismo 7 does not feature any open-world capabilities. You are unable to drive around in full cities or fields outside of the available tracks. In this sense, the game also lacks free roam. The closest way that allows players to drive on tracks for as long as they like is through Time Trials. Since you aren’t racing against anyone, these trials are an easy way to explore each track to your heart’s content. This is similar to how previous Gran Turismo games operated, with all racing being done on closed circuits.

You probably shouldn’t expect an update to change this anytime soon, as it would likely require a lot of work and new additions. However, it’s still likely that an expansion or even the next main Gran Turismo entry will feature an open world. Numerous games in multiple genres have started to experiment with open-world environments. As previously mentioned, Forza has garnered a lot of attention with its own open, explorable environments. Forza is arguably one of the closest competitors to Gran Turismo, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the latter tries to find a new way to one-up the former. This is currently just speculation, but it’s a fact to keep in mind for when the next Gran Turismo is revealed.

Gran Turismo 7 is available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 systems.