What are the UK's biggest Gran Turismo games? | UK Time Tunnel

In the days before Horizon and God of War and Uncharted and Spider-Man, there was one first-party PlayStation franchise to rule them all: The iconic racing series Gran Turismo.

According to GfK, well over 7 million Gran Turismo games have been sold in the UK since the franchise reached these shores some 24 years ago. It sits at No.24 in the All-Time Brand by revenue chart, where it generated £194 million. GfK boss Dorian Bloch says: "By a strange coincidence, above and below Gran Turismo are both racing genres, too, with Formula One at No23 and Forza at No25. The top racing brand is Need for Speed at No.10.".

For three generations, Gran Turismo was Sony's flagship game. The very first title, released on the original PlayStation way back in 1997 in Japan, and 1998 in Europe, took five years to complete and drew critical acclaim for its visuals, licensed vehicles and attention to detail. It was a huge hit, and became the first PlayStation's most successful game.

When it launched in the UK, it went straight in at No.1, appealing to PS1's 2.3 million install base at the time. It ended Resident Evil 2's reign at the top of the charts.

But its reputation grew over time. In terms of launches, the original Gran Turismo is only the seventh biggest in the series' history, but it holds the record as being the second best-selling GT game overall, with just a mere 4,000 units behind the leader.

The best-selling game in the series is Gran Turismo 3, which is another title that didn't see a stellar launch -- it's just the sixth biggest debut for the franchise -- but went on to become the No.1 Gran Turismo across the UK (so far).

The poorest selling Gran Turismo game in the UK, at least in the main numbered series, was Gran Turismo 6. This title released on PS3 after the PS4 had come out in Europe and the US, which limited the game's reach and potential.

In total there are eight Gran Turismo mainline games: seven numbered titles and the PS4 release GT Sport. There are also a number of secondary releases, such as the Concept and Prologue titles, which are smaller form versions of the franchies. Yet even these have a dedicated audience and reached hundreds of thousands of UK consumers.

UK charts company GfK has been tracking the Gran Turismo series since its launch, and has provided GamesIndustry.biz with the 12 biggest Gran Turismo games in the UK, plus the 13 games with the biggest opening weeks.

GT Sport and GT7 also had strong digital sales. And so to create the most accurate list of best-selling Gran Turismo games, we've included those games' digital numbers in the data. Digital data is supplied by GSD.

Best-Selling Gran Turismo Games By Units

Fastest-Selling Gran Turismo Games By Units

Historical data, physical data, average selling prices, courtesy of GfK Entertainment
Digital data for GT7 and GT Sport, courtesy of GSD