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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | Polys Entertainment |
| Founded | April 2, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-04-02) |
| Founder | Kazunori Yamauchi |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
Key people | Kazunori Yamauchi (president) |
| Products | Gran Turismo series |
Number of employees | ~300[1] (February 2022) |
| Parent | Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (1998–2005) PlayStation Studios (2005–present) |
| Website | www |
Polyphony Digital Inc. is an internal Japanesefirst-partyvideo game development studio forPlayStation Studios. Originally a development group withinSony Computer Entertainment'sJapan Studio known asPolys Entertainment,[2][3] after the success ofGran Turismo inJapan, they were granted greater autonomy, reestablished as an individual company and renamed themselves Polyphony Digital. It currently has four studios: two studios in Japan, one studio in theNetherlands, and another one in theUnited States.
The studio is best known for theGran Turismo racing game series. Led byKazunori Yamauchi,Gran Turismo became the most successful racing series for thePlayStation,PlayStation 2 andPlayStation 3. TheGran Turismo series is designed to be a realisticdriving simulator, offering realistic drivingphysics. In 2006, Polyphony releasedTourist Trophy, in an attempt to bring the realism ofGran Turismo to motorcycle racing.
| Game | Release date | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Motor Toon Grand Prix | December 16, 1994 | PlayStation |
| Motor Toon Grand Prix 2 | May 24, 1996 | |
| Gran Turismo | December 23, 1997 |
| Game | Release date | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Omega Boost | April 22, 1999 | PlayStation |
| Gran Turismo 2 | December 11, 1999 | |
| Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec | April 28, 2001 | PlayStation 2 |
| Gran Turismo Concept | January 1, 2002 | |
| Gran Turismo 4 Prologue | December 4, 2003 | |
| Gran Turismo 4 | December 28, 2004 | |
| Tourist Trophy | February 2, 2006 | |
| Gran Turismo HD Concept | December 24, 2006 | PlayStation 3 |
| Gran Turismo 5 Prologue | December 13, 2007 | |
| Gran Turismo (PSP) | October 1, 2009 | PlayStation Portable |
| Gran Turismo 5 | November 24, 2010 | PlayStation 3 |
| Gran Turismo 6 | December 6, 2013 | |
| Gran Turismo Sport | October 17, 2017 | PlayStation 4 |
| Gran Turismo 7 | March 4, 2022 | PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5[4][5][6] |
| My First Gran Turismo | December 6, 2024 | PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 |
Polyphony Digital has also been involved in real life automotive projects. They have developed special versions of theirGran Turismo games for many car manufacturers as demonstrators for their cars. Nissan also commissioned them to design a specialbody kit for their350Z 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" inGT4. 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 (NISSANMOTORSPORT) as a tuning package for existing owners.
In 2007, they were contracted to design the multifunction display on the newNissan GT-R,[7] which displays performance information such asG-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 carmaker says Polyphony was the obvious choice because of the simple menu systems applied to video games such asGran 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."[8]
Seiichi Ikiuo from Polyphony Digital encoded and decoded the movies for various SCEI games, such asThe Legend of Dragoon,Everybody's Golf 2 and the Japanese versions ofRoll Away and the originalCrash Bandicoot games for the PS1.[9]
In 2012,IGN placed Polyphony Digital at number 24 on their list of the 50 greatest developers of all time.[10] In the March 2015 issue ofGamesTM magazine, the company was number 34 on their list of the "50 Best Developers In The World".[11]
In 2014, Polyphony Digital made a long-term partnership withFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for a plan to launch an official FIA Online Championship in 2015.[12]
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