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Sony is taking a pretty interesting swing at fan engagement with a new community initiative called The Playerbase — and it sounds pretty cool!
The Playerbase gives everyday players a shot at being scanned directly into a PlayStation game, with rollout hitting a variety of regions including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia. The first title kicking things off is Gran Turismo 7 – players can head to The Playerbase website, sign in with their PlayStation ID and answer a few questions about their PlayStation experience for their chance to win the in-game fame. From there, Sony will shortlist a small group of finalists. Those players move on to video interviews, where they’ll dig a bit deeper into who they are and what PlayStation means to them.
Alongside being featured in Gran Turismo 7 as a limited-time character portrait, the winner will be flown to LA to visit a visual arts studio and spend the day being scanned – they’ll also get hands-on with helping design a custom Fantasy Logo as well as a unique Vehicle Livery, both of which will stick around permanently in the game’s showcase mode.
According to PlayStation’s global marketing VP, Isabelle Tomatis, the plan is to expand The Playerbase over time, bringing in more PlayStation Studios and tailoring fan appearances to fit each game’s world.