'Gran Turismo Sport' Release Date Announced; Upcoming Game Will Delay 'GT7'?

Sony has announced a release date for "Gran Turismo Sports" instead of the much-awaited "Gran Turismo 7."

According to recent reports, it's possible that the creators of the popular racing franchise announced a release date for "Gran Turismo Sports" first since they are still working on the elusive seventh installment.

There are rumors claiming that the upcoming game will be a prologue to "Gran Turismo 7." However, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Jim Ryan stated that more can be added into "Gran Turismo Sports" as DLC, which wasn't possible with the previous prologue titles of "GT4" and "GT5."

"Fair to say [series director Kazunori Yamauchi] has been making these games for some considerable time now. I think it's reasonable to assume that something else might come down the road," Ryan said in a statement published by PlayStation LifeStyle. "Is it a Prologue? No, I think it'll be more than that."

"The old days, when the games were offline, the experience was defined by what's on the disc. You had a distinction between a Prologue and a full GT, it was very stark," he added. "When the game becomes more of an online connected experience, that distinction blurs. This will be much more than a Prologue type experience."

Fans were expecting that "Gran Turismo 7" will finally be announced in 2016. However, there's still a chance that the highly-awaited sequel could release this year.

A beta version for "Gran Turismo Sports" has already been announced, and according to Master Herald, releasing a beta version usually indicates that the game is nearly completed.

"Gran Turismo" is the highest-selling PlayStation exclusive franchise series of all time. The first installment released in Dec. 23, 1997; the game has since sold more than 76.5 million copies.

Stay tuned for more on the release date of "Gran Turismo Sport" as updates become available.