GT7 will be among the very first titles to have a dedicated "PlayStation 5 Pro Enhanced" patch to allow it to take advantage of the new graphics capabilities of the console when it launches on November 7. That will see the game add in a few visual bells and whistles to step up its already impressive visuals.
Among these is real-time ray-tracing effects on-track, which will see vehicles reflected in each other's shinier surfaces to provide more immersion. Following the initial YouTube presentation earlier in the month, Digital Foundry analyzed some higher quality ProRes footage and found that these reflections run at around HD quality — 1080p.
While the game's native resolution takes a hit due to the expensive nature of RT, it's compensated for by the new AI upscaling tech called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution or PSSR. Additionally both DF and CNET reported the existence of an 8K version of Gran Turismo 7 running on PS5 Pro.
It remains to be seen which of these will be the version available for members of the public to play at TGS, which will be held at the Makuhari Messe (Japan Convention Center) in Chiba City, near Tokyo. However there is only one booth in operation and it'll be available on the public days of Saturday September 28 and Sunday September 29.
We don't yet know when the free PS5 Pro Enhanced update for Gran Turismo 7 will be made available, but given the console's launch date and the usual cadence for GT7's updates it's likely to be on or around Thursday October 24. Any September update is yet to be announced — although there was no content update in August at all — but it would probably be too far from the Pro's launch for the enhanced update to make sense.
Curiously the TGS overlaps with the latest live round of the Gran Turismo World Series, at Tokyo's Kabukicho Tower 20 miles to the west-northwest. Though this event is open to the public too — and a sell-out crowd at that — there's not been any indication of any tie-in with the PlayStation 5 Pro's launch at this point.
However we are expecting to hear more about "My First Gran Turismo" at the event, on Saturday September 28, but watch this space for more either way.
