Gran Turismo 7 officially launches today, and as part of that, the game’s microtransactions have been turned on (they weren’t available during the review period). Of course, MTX in racing games is nothing new or shocking, but changes to how Gran Turismo 7 handles them could make the game significantly more expensive than past entries in the series like the PS4’s Gran Turismo Sport.

　　Gran Turismo Sport allowed you to unlock cars with in-game credits or buy them for set real-world money amounts, ranging from $1 to $5. Gran Turismo 7 does away with this two-tiered system, and instead simply allows you to buy bundles of in-game credits with real money – 100 000 credits for $2.49, 250 000 credits for $5, 750 000 credits for $10, and 2 000 000 credits for $20. That may sound okay, until you realize the top-of-the-line cars in GT7 can cost millions of credits. For instance, there is already a car in the game (the McLaren P1 GTR ’16) which costs 3 600 000 credits. That means you’d need to shell out $40 for a pair of 2 million credit packs to get the one vehicle.

　　But it may get even worse. A trailer for Gran Turismo 7 showed a car, the 1929 Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer, costing 20 million credits. In other words, you’d need to spend $200 on 2 million credit packs just to buy the one car. Of course, you can earn these credits through regular play, but the game is rather stingy with them.

　　I know Gran Turismo 7 is supposed to replicate genuine car culture, but draining your bank account shouldn’t be part of the deal. Here’s hoping Sony reconsiders their current monetization and pricing.

　　Haven’t been keeping up with Gran Turismo 7? Wccftech’s Chris Wray found it to be an impressive racing sim, although he wasn’t crazy about how grindy it could be times…

　　Gran Turismo 7 is an excellent game. It looks fantastic, with features like the photo and scapes modes, making the game look eerily photo-realistic. On the track, racing is top-notch. Every car feels unique, every change in the garage and every decision on the track matters. However, it doesn't mean there aren't issues. Always online requirements have failed me numerous times. In addition to this, the game doesn't value your time with the campaign (cafe menus), having it move at a glacially slow pace at best. Also, the soundtrack is atrocious. Still, whatever faults I find, they are far outweighed by overwhelming positives.

　　Gran Turismo 7 is available now on PS4 and PS5.