Sim Racing DLC Stir

Project Motor Racing has pulled its Japanese GT500 add-on from sale across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox less than a month after release, while Gran Turismo 7 has put a newly added Yangwang U9 into a live time trial that runs through May 7. (traxion.gg) The Project Motor Racing pack launched on March 31 for €9.99 and added nine cars plus Takimiya Circuit, a track the game described as inspired by Okayama International Circuit. On April 22, it was no longer purchasable on Steam and PlayStation and had disappeared from the Xbox store, according to Traxion and OverTake. (traxion.gg) (overtake.gg) Both outlets said players who already bought the pack, or got it through the Year 1 Pass or bundle, can still use the cars and track. Traxion also reported that official social posts about the DLC had been deleted and that neither Straight4 Studios nor publisher Giants Software had explained the removal by publication time. (traxion.gg) (overtake.gg) The pack mattered because it bundled five modern GT500-style cars and four older Japanese Grand Touring Championship-era cars that are rarely licensed in sim racing. Traxion said models such as the 2022 Nissan Calsonic Impul Z GT500 and 2024 Honda Civic GT500 had not appeared in other sim racing titles. (traxion.gg) (store.steampowered.com) Gran Turismo 7 moved in the opposite direction this week. Sony’s April 22 update notes said update 1.69 adds the 1,286-bhp Yangwang U9 ’24, alongside a 1993 Renault Twingo and a 1993 Porsche 911 Turbo S Leichtbau, with the patch going live late April 22 in the U.S. and April 23 in Europe and Japan. (blog.playstation.com) A Gran Turismo 7 online time trial that began April 23 uses that same U9 at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s Grand Prix layout without the chicane, and DG Edge lists the event window as April 23 to May 7. The site said gold typically requires finishing within the top 3% for a 2 million-credit reward. (dg-edge.com) GTPlanet noted that only two of Gran Turismo 7’s three newly added cars received new single-player races in update 1.69, leaving the U9 tied instead to the rotating online event. That split has sharpened a familiar divide in racing games between permanent offline content and limited-time online challenges. (gtplanet.net) Neither game has framed these moves the same way. Gran Turismo 7 presented the U9 as part of a free monthly update, while Project Motor Racing’s missing pack remains unexplained, with OverTake saying any cause from licensing to a required change is still speculation. (blog.playstation.com) (overtake.gg) For players, the contrast is simple on April 23: one sim just made a new car the centerpiece of a two-week event, and another has a month-old add-on that new buyers cannot purchase. (dg-edge.com) (traxion.gg)