Today, Sony officially announced The Playerbase, an initiative that allows players to have their digital and physical likenesses scanned for use in PlayStation titles.
The Playerbase will start with Gran Turismo 7, with Sony looking to expand to include fans of additional PlayStation Studios titles in the near future.
Fans in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia can apply through the official Playerbase portal, with the winners receiving an all-expenses-paid trip (including a plus-one) to a visual arts studio in Los Angeles.
Winners will then get their digital likeness added into Gran Turismo 7 as a character portrait, as well as the ability to create a custom Fantasy Logo and a unique vehicle livery that will be permanently added to the game’s Showcase menu. According to Sony, participants will be selected based on brand engagement and fandom, and players must sign in with their PlayStation ID and share a personal story or memory about how PlayStation has impacted their lives.
When describing the program, Global Marketing Vice President Isabelle Tomatis said that it was a way to “celebrate our gaming community, which has a vital role in PlayStation’s history and future.” Despite being announced just today, many are already skeptical, believing it is a stepping stone toward using likeness in future video game projects without consent, as a means of cutting costs.
Since there can only be one winner, it does come off more as a sweepstakes than a firm push to steal people’s likeness, but only time will tell. At the moment, there’s no word on how long Sony plans to store that data and whether it can be used in other games or technologies.
For more information on this and other upcoming Sony and PlayStation products and releases, be sure to check back to Simulation Daily for updates.
