EA: Shift Could Outperform "Sterile" Gran Turismo 5

The Gran Turismo series carries a lot of weight, and the world will be tracking Gran Tursimo 5’s sales when it releases November 24. EA thinks its multiplatform racing series, Need for Speed: Shift, can outrace and outperform the PS3-exclusive title.

EA senior VP Patrick Soderlund recently spoke with CVG about the differences between the two racing franchises and how he thinks the ongoing duel may go. With Shift 2 on the way next year, the comparison is inevitable. He believes that GT 5 and Shift are very different games with a somewhat similar audience. However, he also thinks that there is a sizable chunk of the audience that doesn’t overlap, and that Shift could really cash in on that as a direct competitor.

"Would I want to compete with Gran Turismo on sheer scale - meaning number of cars and the depth that they have in the game? Probably not,” Soderlund said. "What does make sense to me... I think they have a very sterile, almost car collecting type of product where that's mainly what we do and I think we can offer something different."

While it’s not quite shocking to hear an EA executive touting its games as big competitors, hearing a juggernaut like Gran Turismo 5 labeled “sterile,” is. Do you think the hyper-realistic formula is drying up?