Fanatec has announced that support for its proprietary FullForce feedback system has finally come to Gran Turismo 7 in the game's most recent update. This will enable compatible Fanatec wheel bases to give sim racers more detailed feedback in GT7, following the Spec III update, which arrives today, December 4. If you bought one of Fanatec's best PS5 steering wheels and you've been waiting to get your true value for money, your gameplay is about to feel much more realistic.
For the most part, this seems to impact two wheelbases. Fanatec's current lineup of wheelbases only includes two that are PlayStation compatible, the aptly named Gran Turismo DD Pro Wheelbase, and the ClubSport DD+. Annoyingly, both of those seem to be on backorder at the moment if you shop directly with Fanatec, with a quoted availability date set for December 11th. Thankfully, the Gran Turismo bundle is available at Amazon, as seen below.
We're yet to try the Fanatec DD Pro, but it is surprising that, despite its official licensing for Gran Turismo, it's taken this long for it to finally gain in-game support for its homemade feedback system. Then again, Fanatec's rival software to Logitech's TRUEForce only arrived on the track this year. Moreover, support for it in Gran Turismo 7 doesn't seem like it's been a simple one-and-done integration.
"We have worked on the compatibility with the Fanatec FullForce technology, and have optimized the settings for each car", says Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital.
"The players will now be able to feel the rich and accurate information from road surfaces, tires, and the suspension through the steering wheel. We hope you experience the unique characteristics of each car from the wide variety made available in Gran Turismo."
The race between the best racing wheels for PC has been hotly contested in the last few months, with multiple brands launching new hardware. Logitech has launched its long-awaited mid-range contender, the Logitech G RS50, while Turtle Beach has followed up the VelocityOne with the KD3 (which we're about to post our thoughts on). Meanwhile, Thrustmaster has followed up the T248 with an updated SKU, and Nacon is the new kid on the block with the Revosim RS Pure Bundle.
For Fanatech, it's been a tough couple of years. The brand entered liquidation, much to the despair of the sim racing community online, before it was acquired by Corsair. With this update, Fanatec is reinstating its place in the current sim racing arms race, rivaling Logitech as one of very few brands to have developed its own type of detailed feedback systems.
While support is still limited to a few wheelbases and three games (iRacing, Assetto Corsa, and now GT7) at the moment, Fanatec's compatibility is fairly open. All of its gear is compatible with Windows PCs, its PS-compatible wheelbases can be used on Xbox, and its Xbox steering wheels can be used with PlayStation wheelbases. If you're still following, that leaves you room to mix and match depending on your platform, but it does broaden your horizons as FullForce gains support from other games.
The Spec III update for Gran Turismo 7 is available today, giving players eight new cars and two new tracks, along with other new content and features.
For more, check out the best PC controllers, the best PS5 controllers, and the best Xbox Series X controllers.
