It seems that Gran Turismo 5 is having a bit of network problems thanks to online traffic congestion. I’ve noticed over the weekend that sometimes it takes a while to load up into certain screens and that my online buddies are showing up as online even though I know they are online. I’ve even been told of some problems gifting cars to people because of this. The official Gran Turismo site knows of these problems and has posted an official statement about it as well as a temporary fix until they sort out the problems.

Currently the online services of Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) is experiencing some extreme online traffic congestion.

Because GT5 performs online access not only when participating in online races and using community features, but also when starting the game and during the various screen displays in GT Mode, unfortunately this online congestion is also affecting standard gameplay.

If you are experiencing the following symptoms, we recommend that you temporarily play GT5 without connecting the PlayStation 3 (PS3) to the network.

(A) If you are finding it takes several minutes before being able to perform any actions in the following screens:

– Before the start of the opening movie, immediately after launching the game
– At the top screen after the game has started
– In various screens within GT Mode

(B) Or, when it takes several minutes or more to gain a result when the following operations are performed:

– When entering the open lobby, if it takes several minutes or more before the room list is acquired and displayed.
– When clicking on an ID in the participant list of a room, if it takes several minutes or more before the menu appears.
– When writing on the message boards within “Community”, if it is taking several minutes or more for your posts to appear.

* Also, some of the following features have been limited intentionally as a measure to temporarily alleviate some of the network traffic. Due to these limitations, you will find that:
– The viewing and update of the [Log] in the Community section of GT Mode has been temporarily disabled.
– Changes to the Profile may not update in some cases.
– Changes to the Friend List may not update in some cases.

Currently we are simultaneously working on several different solutions to improve the network status and alleviate the network congestion as soon as possible. We are expecting to be able to provide a proper online service again soon.

We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.

Reference Information
Temporary measures you can take for playing Offline 

The following are procedures for preventing the PS3 from accessing the network when playing GT5.
Please note the steps introduced here are only temporary procedures you can take until the network conditions are improved.

(1) If GT5 is currently running, please quit the game.

(2) Go to [Settings] -> [Network Connections] -> [Internet Connection] and switch the selection to [Disabled]

(3) Start GT5.