Sega's new Crazy Taxi game will be open-world and "massively multiplayer"
Ride along.
The big budget upcoming return of Crazy Taxi will be an open-world, massively-multiplayer game, Sega has said.
A new developer interview video published today includes quotes from Sega's team behind the upcoming reboot, as well as brief flashes of in-game footage. There are clips of multiple yellow taxis racing each other - and police cars in pursuit.
Job adverts on Sega's recruitment page note that the game is being developed in Unreal Engine, and that Sega has high expectations for the game's success globally. The publisher previously described the project's scope as "AAA", indicating it is placing plenty of resources behind it.
According to translations of the development team's quotes (the new video, above, is in Japanese), Sega is currently testing how Crazy Taxi's traditional gameplay works in multiplayer, with unspecified new mechanics. (That's gameplay mechanics, not people with wrenches.) The game's map is once again inspired by the sunny US West Coast, with a play space designed to feel like a theme park (thanks, Automaton).
Sega's new Crazy Taxi project was one of five fresh titles in classic franchises announced last December, alongside new entries in the Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage set to arrive over the next few years. (I'm sure Skies of Arcadia is next... right, Sega?)
The publisher has said it is aiming to find the next breakout series from its vast back catalogue, after successfully turning its mascot Sonic into a powerhouse brand.