GT Academy provided skilled Gran Turismo players an opportunity to earn a real-life professional racing career with Nissan.

[2][3] A small event was held in 2006 in a partnership with Sony, where participants competed in the Gran Turismo game and on an actual track for a Nissan 350Z prize.

[6][4] From 2010 to 2016, the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy program saw twenty-one additional winners, many of whom had success on track including Championship wins, Podiums and international races, such as the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hours in Australia.

In 2014, a new International competition was introduced, broadening GT Academy again to Australia and the Middle East, and for the first time to India, Mexico, and Thailand.

The sixth season in 2014 grew to include separate competitions for Europe (France, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, Sweden, Poland, and Czech Republic), Germany, North America (United States and Canada) and an International group (Australia, India, Middle East, Mexico and Thailand).

Throughout all seasons of the programme, 'Race Camp' was based at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom where the winner was crowned to whoever demonstrated the highest potential to transition from Gran Turismo gamer to a real racer.

Gamers in the participating territories signed in with their PSN (PlayStation Network) ID and entered the competition via a free automatic update on the game.

National Finals identified which gamers had real-life racing potential and determined the top selection of competitors who would progress to the next phase of GT Academy.

They were allocated a judge - each with a professional background in auto racing – responsible for mentoring and eliminating all but one of their group based on various eliminatory challenges.

Headquartered at Silverstone Circuit, UK, the Driver Development Program consisted of two-to-four months of training and racing at club and national level with the GT Academy Nissan RJN Motorsport Team in order for drivers to qualify for an International Racing License, a process that normally takes three years.

This was a requirement to compete at an international endurance race – the final prize for the majority of the GT Academy Winners – which for most had been the Dubai 24 Hours.

In addition to building fitness, racing experience and theory, the Driver Development Programme also included training in the NISMO Lab, where technological equipment included Nissan's In-Body machine, which analysed body composition; a brainwave monitor, which trained the mind to simultaneously focus and relax; a BATAK console to improve peripheral vision and reaction times; a racing simulator which allowed simulated racing practice on any track in the world; a biometric harness and the JukeRide which measured biometric and telemetry data respectively.

In 2014, Wolfgang Reip recorded the first-ever all-electric lap of the Le Mans circuit, driving the Nissan ZEOD RC.

Nicolas Hammann became the first GT Academy graduate to compete in stock car racing (both Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 6 had featured NASCAR Cup Series cars), where he made two starts (all on road courses) for Mike Harmon Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.