Hello Everyone

You might be aware that at the start of last month we launched this year’s GT Academy, our ‘virtual to real’ competition in conjunction with Nissan where we take a PlayStation gamer and turn them into a real-life racing driver.

The first stage of this year’s driver search – the online qualification round – is now in full swing. To date over 670,000 players in 14 countries have downloaded the free GT5-based qualification round which launched on 1 May.

Today I have some great news for you! From midday, the GT Academy 2012 demo is being made available in most countries that have PlayStation Store.

Although this extended roll-out won’t mean that you’ll be able to enter the main GT Academy competition, you will get access to some rather impressive, exclusive and free new content that also includes un-lockable DLC. (And there’s always the valuable opportunity to earn bragging rights over your mates too!)

Here’s what series creator Kazunori Yamauchi said about the new GT Academy content:

“The response to the GT Academy 2012 demo has been very positive, so we wanted to make it as widely available as possible; the title is very accessible to everyone. Veteran Gran Turismo players enjoy the challenges, but then it is also a very good starting point for players who have never tried a driving simulator before. They can experience the depth of race driving, as well as the fun and excitement of time trials.”

You don’t even need to have Gran Turismo to play this game, so what are you waiting for? Head over to PlayStation Store and download the free demo now.

More information about the GT Academy 2012 demo and also the GT Academy programme can be found on gran-turismo.com.

Time for everyone to get their race face on!