Crazy Taxi Reboot an Open-World, Massively Multiplayer AAA Game, Sega Says – IGN

Sega has big ambitions for the Crazy Taxi reboot — it’s described it as an open-world, massively multiplayer AAA game.

Crazy Taxi is a driving game series that first appeared in arcades in 1999 before ports on consoles such as the Dreamcast saw it enjoy popularity in the home. You play a taxi driver who speeds through the city to deliver passengers to their destinations, performing stunts to earn points along the way.

During The Game Awards 2023, Sega announced new games in the Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Crazy Taxi franchises alongside the teaser trailer, below. The video shows brief gameplay clips of each of the games set to return.

In February, Takaya Segawa, who runs Sega’s support studio in Sapporo, briefly mentioned the Crazy Taxi reboot as a AAA game.

Now, in a developer-focused video interview reported on and translated by Automaton, Sega offered more information, confirming Crazy Taxi is a “large-scale, open-world, massively multiplayer driving game” powered by Unreal Engine.

Producer Kenji Kanno said that the new Crazy Taxi can be played by many players at once, with the goal of maintaining the classic Crazy Taxi style amid these new mechanics. There’s mention of a theme park-like map and motifs inspired by the U.S. West Coast. As Automaton noted, one image reveals the player driving a police car, suggestion new types of modes.

There is no release date yet for the Crazy Taxi reboot or the other new games announced at last year’s Game Awards. Last month, it was reported that Sega is developing a remake of the original Jet Set Radio as a separate project to the officially announced franchise reboot, with screenshots and footage popping up online.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.