Sony is doing its best Hideo Kojima impression, scanning fans into games like Gran Turismo 7, but only if you can impress with your player stats and "authentic love for PlayStation"

Sony appears to be attempting its very best Hideo Kojima impression as it announces plans to scan PlayStation fans into its games, so if you're lucky enough, maybe you'll soon have a lookalike living their best life in Gran Turismo 7. For a while, anyway.

In a PlayStation Blog post today, Sony Interactive Entertainment's vice president of global marketing, Isabelle Tomatis, unveiled The Playerbase – described as "a unique opportunity for PlayStation's biggest fans to step into some of the biggest game worlds by having their likeness scanned and appear within a PlayStation game." This idea is first being rolled out to Gran Turismo 7, but "we'll be looking to expand and include fans in additional PlayStation Studios titles in the near future."

Now, as you might expect, this isn't a privilege Sony is granting to literally everyone. In fact, it's incredibly limited, but it's not just a case of being picked in a lucky draw. If you're interested, you'll need to submit an application (which will ask you about your "experiences on PlayStation"), before finalists are selected to participate in video interviews to learn even more about them and their "connection" to the brand. Only then will one person be selected to be given "a special limited-time appearance as an in-game character portrait, similar to how characters are presented throughout the game."

This first example of The Playerbase being used in Gran Turismo 7 doesn't sound nearly as in-depth as, say, the celebrity cameos Kojima put into Death Stranding and its sequel (which include but are no means limited to The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley and VTuber Usada Pekora). In fact, quantity-wise, Kojima put so many famous faces in Death Stranding 2 that the devs apparently ran out of space and ended up having to turn people down.

Compared to those, I imagine that the "limited-time" part of this Gran Turismo 7 fan appearance is going to sound very underwhelming to some after what appears to be such an in-depth application process. But, at the very least, whoever gets picked will also get "invited to a visual arts studio in Los Angeles for a scanning day," and they'll also get to "collaborate with a designer" to make a custom Fantasy Logo, as well as a "one-of-a-kind vehicle livery which will be added permanently to the Showcase menu."

It's got to be said though, it sounds like Sony's bar is extremely high for whoever its winner is. Looking through the frequently asked questions about its criteria, it's stated that a successful application will have to demonstrate your connection to PlayStation, as well as passion for both it and Gran Turismo 7 developer Polyphony Digital, evidenced by "ownership of PlayStation products, subscriptions, games played, hours played, etc.," and things like "ownership of games from those studios, hours played, number and type of game trophies obtained," respectively. This is based both on your initial application and your PlayStation account history.

What's more, anyone who gets through to the video interview stage will have to express an "authentic love for PlayStation" and Gran Turismo 7, and will be judged on how much their interview "includes shareable and entertaining content, while demonstrating that your story is suitably interesting to make further compelling content," amongst other things. I guess it's a positive thing that a huge fan will, in theory, be rewarded for their dedication, but that's a lot of pressure for anyone who wants to throw their hat in the ring.

Anyway, perhaps Sony's Playerbase cameos will become a bit more expansive as time goes on. After all, Tomatis reiterates the plan is to feature fans in "ways that fit each game's own style and world" in the titles of studios that participate in the future. Hell, maybe Death Stranding 2 could even be on that list, considering Sony is the publisher – I'm sure Kojima would be able to show 'em how it's done. For now, though, anyone eligible is able to apply via the official site.

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