Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) announced today that the cumulative worldwide shipment of the Gran Turismo franchise, a genre-defining racing and car-life simulator available on PlayStation, PlayStation2, and PlayStation3, has exceeded 50 million units as of April 30, 2008, 10 years and 4 months after the launch of the first title in the series, Gran Turismo, in December 1997.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for PlayStation3, the newest installment of this best-selling racing franchise first launched in Japan in December, 2007, Asia in February, 2008, Europe and Australia in March and in North America April of 2008. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, which is actually the seventh installment (go figure), introduced entirely new modes such as online head-to head racing for up to 16 players. Also newly minted: Gran Turismo-TV, an in-game online channel that delivers automotive video contents from around the globe, plus downloadable supplemental content including new cars and courses.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has recorded strong sales since it first launched with more than 2 million units of cumulative shipment worldwide.
"Initially, 'Gran Turismo' was an 'alternative' racing game, kind of an outsider in the genre," said Kazunori Yamauchi, Producer of Gran Turismo. "We made it thinking that it would be okay as long as it reached out to the select few who would agree with us. So this figure, 50 million units - is simply astounding."

For those into stats, the cumulative worldwide shipments of the Gran Turismo series, according to Sony, looks like this:

Title / Sales (millions)

Gran Turismo:
Japan 02.55 | North America 03.99 | Europe 04.30 | Asia 00.01 | Total World Wide 10.85

Gran Turismo 2:
Japan 01.71 | North America 03.96 | Europe 03.68 | Asia 00.02 | Total World Wide 09.37

Gran Turismo 3 A-spec:
Japan 01.89 | North America 07.14 | Europe 05.85 | Asia 00.01 | Total World Wide 14.89

Gran Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo:
Japan 00.43 | North America 00.00 | Europe 01.00 | Asia 00.13 | Total World Wide 01.56

Gran Turismo 4 Prologue:
Japan 00.79 | North America 00.00 | Europe 00.41 | Asia 00.16 | Total World Wide 01.36

Gran Turismo 4:
Japan 01.24 | North America 02.90 | Europe 05.77 | Asia 00.15 | Total World Wide 10.06

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (including downloadable version):
Japan 00.27 | North America 00.55 | Europe 01.38 | Asia 00.03 | Total World Wide 02.23


TOTAL: 50.32