Crazy Taxi: World Tour Interview Reveals Japan Map and 2027 Launch
Sega’s Crazy Taxi: World Tour is an upcoming driving action game scheduled for a 2027 release. It will come to Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. In a new Famitsu interview, Creative Producer Kenji Kanno, the creator of the original series, and Director Yo Momotani shared development stories behind the project. Their discussion was based on a media demo that lets players try the newly implemented Japan map, covering the team’s lengthy debates over what to keep and what to reinvent for the long-running franchise.
Kanno revealed that he personally opposed including a Japan map, but Momotani insisted it should be featured. The director argued that Japan offers a distinctive driving experience well suited to the game’s five-map world tour concept. Kanno questioned whether focusing on a small island nation could be entertaining compared to seven continents, and Momotani noted he faced repeated objections. The final result combines expressways resembling the Shuto Expressway with the dense, tightly packed streets of Shibuya’s Center-gai.
The team reworked the controls around gamepad input rather than the arcade’s motion-style setup, aiming to make signature moves like Crazy Dash and Crazy Stop easier for broader audiences. Kanno said he asked the team to simplify the system. The developers also debated destructible obstacles; Kanno pushed to let players smash everything, and the design pivoted toward breezy, exhilarating driving while still retaining plenty of depth and technique for skilled play.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour spans five maps, each tailored to a country’s driving feel and atmosphere. The Japan map secured cooperation from numerous real companies, bringing actual storefronts, Tokyo Tower, and Tokyo Skytree into the game. A German map lets players drive across an airport runway alongside airplanes, with Cologne Cathedral featured. The team also varied car colors, pedestrian appearances, per-country background music, and dialect-inflected English voices for authenticity. Judging by the interview, the revival balances its signature chaos with surprisingly thoughtful design—one worth watching when it arrives in 2027.
