New Crazy Taxi to reportedly be open-world MMO

One of Sega’s biggest new projects is looking to make changes to its classic format in bold ways. The next Crazy Taxi game is set to be an MMO, according to a translation of a recent video by Sega. 

Over the last year, it became evident that Sega was planning on remaking a couple of hits from its catalog. Although it was long rumored, a reveal trailer from The Game Awards in December confirmed the return of five franchises: Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi are all getting new installments.

The trailer from December was flashy and highlighted a general sense of excitement from the company. This seemed to tease the idea that these games would be getting even more attention than what some fans might have expected. Maybe most surprising was the announcement that Crazy Taxi is planned as a AAA release after receiving no mainline releases since 2002. 

A video interview about Crazy Taxi’s development has now been released and Automation posted an English translation of it. The new Crazy Taxi game will implement an array of new mechanics and the developers are aiming for a theme park-style map that’s inspired by the West Coast of the U.S., according to the translation.

Furthermore, Sega’s recruitment page is searching for developers, and job listings suggest the new Crazy Taxi is set to be a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game with open-world features. It was previously rumored that the new Crazy Taxi game would use Unreal Engine 5. These listings confirm the developers are using some version of Unreal Engine. 

It appears fans of the Crazy Taxi series have plenty to look forward to as this release could be one of the biggest installments in the franchise so far. Sega appears committed to ensuring that it, along with the rest of its returning IPs, will be a hit. Although rumors have suggested a 2027 launch window, there’s no confirmed release date for the next Crazy Taxi title yet.