While Sega has been quietly working on its reboot of Crazy Taxi, the company is seemingly getting close to a proper look at the title. In a social media post, Sega shared a small 5-second clip of taxi lights on top of what looks like the windshield for one of the convertible taxis from the classic Crazy Taxi games.
It is worth noting that there have been no other announcements related to Crazy Taxi, and the video clip lacks any text or other details either. However, with a variety of gaming industry showcases and events slated for early June, Sega might be indicating that we will finally get to see the Crazy Taxi reboot in action.
Sega had announced that it was working on a new Crazy Taxi game back in 2023, and since then, there have been few other details. Back in February 2024, the company revealed that it is going to be a full-fledged AAA release and that its Sapporo Studio is working on the project.
“We’re responsible for titles such as Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage! in cooperation with the bases in Tokyo and overseas,” said Sapporo Studio president and Sega senior executive Takaya Segawa. “We are also participating in the development of triple-A titles, including Crazy Taxi (a recently announced reboot of the arcade classic).
“At present, we don’t have any titles developed independently by the studio, but we intend to do so in the future.”
The same year also saw Sega confirm through job listings that Crazy Taxi will be fully open world, and offer players a “massively multiplayer” experience. Reports have also indicated that the game is set in a fictional city inspired by the US West Coast, and that the world will be designed to be “theme park-like” while still maintaining realism.
Rumors have also indicated that the Crazy Taxi reboot will feature a 100-player survival mode, and that it will be “modelled after AAA live service games such as Fortnite“. They also noted that Sega has plans “for live events, collaborations, and customizations”.
The Crazy Taxi franchise started its life all the way back in 1999 as an arcade game. It would eventually make its way to home consoles with its release on Sega’s Dreamcast in 2000, where it would go on to become the console’s third best-selling game in the US. It would reach an even wider audience with its eventual release on PS2, GameCube, and PC. There would also be sequels released on Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation Portable.
The core gameplay loop of Crazy Taxi revolves around players taking on the role of a taxi driver trying to make as much money as possible by ferrying customers around a city within the time limit. Since the time constraints were quite severe, players were encouraged to go at high speeds through dangerous routes, and maybe even pull off a few stunts along the way. Customers would reward players for their speed and the excitement offered by their ride (or get annoyed if they missed their destination).
