Highlights

  • According to Sega, the upcoming Crazy Taxi reboot will be a massively multiplayer driving game set in an open world.
  • The game will likely retain its arcade-style gameplay and cartoony art style and is being developed using Unreal Engine 5.
  • The reboot will be a Triple-A title with a "theme park-like" map based on the West Coast of the United States.

In a recently posted recruitment video, developers at Sega Sapporo have described the in-development Crazy Taxi reboot as a "massive multiplayer driving" game. The Crazy Taxi revival was first announced during The Game Awards 2023 alongside a host of other Sega reboots, including upcoming new entries in the Jet Set Radio and Streets of Rage series. Not much about any of these new games has been shared yet, but a trailer highlighted how the Crazy Taxi reboot would largely be retaining its arcade-style gameplay and cartoony art style.

While details about these reboots have been scarce, Sega has stated that Crazy Taxi will be one of the publisher's Triple-A games, teasing that it will be much bigger than expected. The Crazy Taxi reboot is being developed by Sega Sapporo, a studio that was established in 2021 and has assisted in the development of various Sega games. There have been several leaks over the past year that have described this reboot as a massively multiplayer live service title. The studio has recently corroborated these leaks by detailing the game's scope, sharing that "massively multiplayer" elements are a part of the experience.

0:37
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Axel from Crazy Taxi
Related
Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble - Axel Reveal Trailer

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble welcomes in Axel from the classic Sega arcade driving game Crazy Taxi, coming in Fall 2024.

In a new Japanese recruitment video posted by Sega (partially translated by VGC), producer Kenji Kanno, the director of the original Crazy Taxi, shares details about this reboot alongside other members of the development team. According to the video, the development team is adapting the gameplay of the original Crazy Taxi, in which players have to pick up and drive passengers to their destinations in record time, into a world populated by multiple players at once. The reboot's gameplay shows that players will be driving around a city that is based on the West Coast of the United States, with the video describing the map as "theme park-like."

New Information from Sega Supports Crazy Taxi Live Service Leaks

Several job listings on Sega's website also offer further insight into the reboot. According to these listings, the Crazy Taxi reboot will be a "new major online title" with an open world created using Unreal Engine. All of these details corroborate findings from earlier this year, with numerous leaks claiming the Crazy Taxi reboot would be a live service game.

According to these older leaks, the Crazy Taxi reboot is being developed using Unreal Engine 5, and the live service title will supposedly launch after a more single-player-focused remake separate from the massively multiplayer reboot. The remake will supposedly be very similar to the original game but will contain new features and modern quality-of-life updates. While the credibility of these leaks have largely been accurate so far, fans will want to wait for more information from Sega to confirm the details.