Gran Turismo 7 players slam “absurd” microtransactions after devs increase car prices

Polyphone Digital appears to be changing the prices of many of Gran Turismo 7’s top-end Legend Cars, causing players to accuse the game of “quietly reverting it back to how bad it was at launch.”

We said in our Gran Turismo 7 review that it was a “must-play, must-own, masterpiece,” and that’s because the action and intensity it delivers on the track is unbelievable. However, the game has not been without controversy since it launched, with the notable credits controversy rocking the community, forcing the devs to apologize and offer a gesture of good faith to say sorry.

This seemed to tide things over and get the game and its players back on the same page. This hasn’t lasted long though as a fresh problem has arisen following GT7’s 1.15 update on May 26 that sees many already expensive cars become even grindier to obtain.

Gran Turismo 7 Legend Cars price controversy

The game’s Hagerty’s Legends Car dealership rotates some absolute classic vehicles for players to buy in exchange for a lot of credits. The community has never had too many issues with their price tags, given that they are supposed to be rare vehicles.

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This stance changed with the 1.15 update informing players: “In the Hagerty Collection, prices have been revised according to real-world valuations under guidance from Hagerty. Hagerty is an American company that provides car insurance and valuation for classic cars and has also sponsored many historic car events in recent years. The new prices will be applied from the next lineup update. The next pricing revision is planned for August 2022.”

Some investigative datamining on the GT Planet forum has revealed some of the price changes that have already been enforced, as well as ones that can be expected with the August 2022 price revision.

Whilst some cars have actually had their price decreased, the Porsche Spyder Type 550/1500RS was 5,000,000 Cr. and is now 4,500,000 Cr., many have been increased with the Mercedez-Benz 300 SL (W194) being the biggest casualty going from 11,000,000 Cr. to 13,000,000 Cr!

A Reddit user quickly voiced their opinion on the matter and has calculated that the price changes have represented an overall increase of these Legend Cars by “6,487,900 Cr. and counting.”

The OP said: “Kind of miffed, the state of the game’s economy even with Tomahawk wasn’t great, and this feels like they’re quietly reverting it back to how bad it was at launch,” and the sentiments were echoed by another user who offered: “Honestly. I grinded with the Tomahawk. I got a ton of cash to upgrade regular street cars. Got a few legendary ones. Feels like that’s it. Idk why they feel the need to make this game so impossible to have fun.”

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Another commenter was firmer in their stance: “I have honestly never seen a more scummy move by a developer to push people towards purchasing their absurdly overpriced microtransactions… Hide a trophy behind three absurdly overpriced digital cars and then add insult to injury by dramatically increasing their prices every few months.”

It seems like Polyphony Digital hasn’t quite learned their lesson from the Credits controversy, and unless they backtrack on this issue as well, they could be in serious danger of alienating the player base.