The Gran Turismo series has now sold over 70 million units, says Sony.

Gran Turismo mastermind Kazunori Yamauchi has officially announced Gran Turismo 6 for the PlayStation 3 at the UK's Silverstone circuit.

The game is due to be released later this year for the PlayStation 3, putting it in the same release window as Sony's next-generation PlayStation 4.

Yamauchi says Gran Turismo 6 will feature a new, flexible rendering engine that features adaptive tessellation. A new physics and suspension engine is also being developed in partnership with Yokohama and KW Automotive.

"GT5 became a very complex game in the end," said Yamauchi, and in making Gran Turismo 6, the team at Polyphony Digital are attempting to "allow expandability of the system, and at the same time improve the response times of the actual operations of the game and just make the whole game smoother."

Silverstone itself is one of the new tracks in the game, with the Northampton-based circuit being joined by six new and currently unannounced tracks. In total there will be 71 layouts across 33 locations, says Yamauchi.

Polyphony Digital intends to bump up the total number of cars available in Gran Turismo 6 to around 1,200, which is approximately 100 more than the final garage available in Gran Turismo 5.

Gran Turismo 6 will focus on more customisable vehicles than in previous games, and Polyphony Digital is aiming at an extensive post-launch DLC plan to extend the life of the game.

Social features are also being integrated, and a website and mobile application will be made available. A new course maker will be included, and players can compete online with their own customised championships.

Additionally, Yamauchi says that Gran Turismo 6 will feature a redesigned user interface that is focused entirely around short load times and simplicity.

During the announcement, Sony said that global sales of Gran Turismo now stand at 70 million units and that almost half of the series' total sales have been in Europe. The last instalment in the series, Gran Turismo 5, has shifted over 10 million copies by itself.

Sony also said that its 2013 GT Academy season, which gives top-tier Gran Turismo players the chance to drive real racecars, will begin in July and award its winners with a full season of racing in the Nissan GTR GT3.

Additional reporting by Mark Walton.

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