Get Yourself in Gran Turismo 7 via PlayStation’s New “Playerbase” Contest

One lucky Gran Turismo 7 player is about to see themselves in the game — literally.

Sony has announced a new community initiative called “The Playerbase,” a contest that will scan a PlayStation fan’s likeness and feature them inside a PlayStation Studios title, and Gran Turismo 7 is the first.

Announced this morning on the PlayStation Blog by Isabelle Tomatis, Vice President of Global Marketing at Sony Interactive Entertainment, The Playerbase is being pitched as a way to bring devoted fans closer to the games they love, with additional PlayStation Studios titles expected to join the program in the future.

Here’s how it works: starting today, April 7, fans in eligible regions can head over to playstation.com/the-playerbase, sign in with their PlayStation account, and submit an application. The form asks for the usual details along with a written submission of 1,000 characters or less explaining how PlayStation has impacted your life. Entries are limited to one per person, and the window closes on April 26 at 11:59pm PT.

From there, the judges will whittle the applicant pool down to somewhere between 50 and 150 entries, with those finalists being invited to record video interviews at the end of April. Three candidates will then advance to a final round, and the winner is expected to be announced around November 2026.

The grand prize winner will be flown out (with one guest) to the PlayStation Studios Visual Arts studio in Los Angeles, where their facial geometry will be scanned for use in the game. According to the official rules, the winner’s digital likeness will appear in Gran Turismo 7 “for a limited amount of time” as an in-game character portrait, similar to the character art already scattered throughout the game’s menus.

But the more permanent reward is arguably the cooler one: the winner will also get to collaborate with a Polyphony Digital designer to create a custom Fantasy Logo and a one-of-a-kind vehicle livery, both of which will be added permanently to the Showcase menu. That means long after the character portrait comes and goes, a piece of this winner’s contribution will remain baked into the game for everyone to see.

The travel package includes round-trip airfare for two, a two-night hotel stay, and a $200 per diem for meals, with an approximate retail value of around $4,000.

Eligibility is fairly broad, covering much of the Americas, Europe, parts of Asia, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, with the full list available in the official rules. Entrants must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in their region) and have an active PlayStation account.

One detail from the official rules that’s worth flagging for anyone planning to apply: judging in the first round isn’t just about your written submission. The Contest Judges will also evaluate “demonstrated engagement with the PlayStation brand” and “demonstrated engagement with Polyphony Digital,” which means they could assess entrants based on things like owned games, hours played, and trophies earned. All those hours grinding through Menu Books could finally be about to pay off…

The Playerbase is an interesting idea, and it’s a fitting game to launch it with. Gran Turismo has always had a deep, passionate community, and the prospect of seeing a fellow fan’s livery and logo permanently enshrined in the Showcase menu is the kind of community touch that fits the franchise well. Here’s hoping the winner puts that design opportunity to good use (and they’re a GTPlanet member!).

You can find full details and submit your application at playstation.com/the-playerbase. Good luck!

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