Polyphony Digital


Polyphony Digital is an internal Japanese first-party video game development studio of Sony Interactive Entertainment, operated under SIE Worldwide Studios, which in turn is owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. Originally a development group within Sony Computer Entertainment known as Polys Entertainment, after the success of Gran Turismo in Japan, they were granted greater autonomy and their name changed to Polyphony Digital. Polyphony currently has 5 studios in Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Company overview

The studio is best known for its Gran Turismo racing game series. Led by Kazunori Yamauchi, Gran Turismo became the most successful racing series for the PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. The Gran Turismo series is designed to be a realistic driving simulator, offering realistic driving physics. In 2006, Polyphony released Tourist Trophy, in an attempt to bring the realism of Gran Turismo to motorcycle racing.

Games developed

as Polys Entertainment
Game TitleRelease DatePlatform
Motor Toon Grand PrixDecember 16, 1994PlayStation
Motor Toon Grand Prix 2May 24, 1996PlayStation
Gran TurismoDecember 23, 1997PlayStation

as Polyphony Digital
Game TitleRelease DatePlatform
Omega BoostApril 22, 1999PlayStation
Gran Turismo 2December 11, 1999PlayStation
April 28, 2001PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo ConceptJanuary 1, 2002PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo 4 PrologueDecember 4, 2003PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo 4December 28, 2004PlayStation 2
Tourist TrophyFebruary 2, 2006PlayStation 2
Gran Turismo HDDecember 24, 2006PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo 5 PrologueDecember 13, 2007PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo October 1, 2009PlayStation Portable
Gran Turismo 5November 24, 2010PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo 6December 6, 2013PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo SportOctober 17, 2017PlayStation 4
Gran Turismo 7TBAPlayStation 5

Other projects

Polyphony Digital has also been involved in real life automotive projects. They have developed special versions of their Gran Turismo games for many car manufacturers as demonstrators for their cars. Nissan also commissioned them to design a special bodykit for their 350Z coupe, which first appeared in 'GT Concept: 2002 Tokyo – Geneva' as the "Nissan 350Z Gran Turismo Aero", later becoming the "Fairlady Z NISMO S-Tune Concept by GRAN TURISMO" in GT4. There was also a faster 'Z-Tune' version with minor styling revisions and 400PS. The S-Tune was later sold in real life by NISMO as a tuning package for existing owners.
More recently, they were contracted to design the multifunction display on the new Nissan GT-R, which displays performance information such as G-forces, acceleration opening, brake pedal pressure, steering angle, an "optimal gearshift map," to emphasize economical vehicle operation.

When Nissan was looking for a company to develop the GT-R's user-friendly 'multi-function meter', the car maker says Polyphony was the obvious choice because of the simple menu systems applied to video games such as Gran Turismo. "If you think about the GT-R's multi-function meter with the g-force information and everything else, we wanted it to be very easy to read, very easy to use," says Nissan's global vice president of communications, Simon Sproule. "It's really about the logic of how video games work and their menu systems – which anyone can use – and then applying it to the car."
Seiichi Ikiuo from Polyphony Digital encoded and decoded the movies for various SCEI games, such as The Legend of Dragoon, Everybody's Golf 2 and the Japanese versions of Roll Away and the original Crash Bandicoot games for the PS1.

Recognition

In 2012, IGN placed Polyphony Digital at number 24 on their list of the 50 greatest developers of all time. In the March 2015 issue of GamesTM magazine, the company was number 34 on their list of the "50 Best Developers In The World".
In 2014, Polyphony Digital made a long-term partnership with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for plan to launch an official FIA Online Championship in 2015.