Gran Turismo 5 Leaked in Europe

Last month we detailed that Gran Turismo 5 had been delayed yet again, past its November 2nd release date. A small reprieve in the announcement by Sony mentioned a release date of ‘this holiday season’. While an update is now way overdue as to an exact release date, it would appear certain members of the public in Europe have already acquired a copy.

To add further fuel to the fire of a possible imminent release date, achievement details had been released in the form of a video. Unfortunately, both photos of the official packaging plus disc and YouTube video of the achievements have since been removed from their respective sources, though this in itself may be seen as confirmation of an imminent release.

Joystiq posted a copy of the European release packaging and disc in its initial news release, so at least we can ogle away at some details (including a small 3D logo on the front cover). Kazunori Yamauchi, GT5 creator, had also previously stated that the discs were being created. Speculation still remains as to the reason for the last delay, such as the inclusion of firmware version 3.50 on the disc as a preventative measure against the recent hacking attempts using a USB flash drive with modified firmware, but that still remains a rumor.

So chin up people, we could very well see a release date this side of the annual festive season. This also means we need another poster child for vaporware with Duke Nukem Forever actually being released soon as well… that or hell really is freezing over.

Over the weekend, a handful of tipsters sent Gran Turismo fansite GT Planet photos of what appeared to be retail versions of Gran Turismo 5. The photographic evidence began to pile up, and it seems that some gamer slash gearheads in Europe are already playing the game — this is, of course, after the game was delayed to an unknown release date. Additionally, the game’s entire Trophy list has been revealed, adding fuel to the fire.