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SEGA confirmed Germany as the first international destination in Crazy Taxi: World Tour on August 26, dropping a dedicated gameplay trailer during the Xbox Gamescom Livestream that showed series veteran Axel tearing through cobblestoned city streets, weaving around highway traffic at autobahn speeds, and smashing through a festive holiday market with fully destructible stalls. For a franchise that spent its first 26 years never straying outside American city limits, the reveal is the first concrete proof that the “World Tour” in the title is more than a subtitle.
Gamescom 2026, where the trailer debuted, sold out its entire 233,000-square-meter floor for the first time in 18 editions — approximately 2.5 million square feet of Cologne exhibition space, opening its public doors on August 27. Players who want early access to the multiplayer component have until August 31 to apply for the Closed Network Test, which runs September 11–13 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
What the Germany Map Actually Looks Like
The trailer takes Axel across a compressed but varied version of Germany’s most recognizable visual vocabulary: fairy-tale castles, a regional airport, a countryside village, winding cobblestoned city streets, and open agricultural fields. The autobahn stretch is the standout set piece — the game’s high-speed highway section, designed to test top-end control at sustained velocity rather than the sharp urban cornering the city zones demand.
Most notable for returning fans, the holiday market is fully destructible — stalls collapse on impact and scatter into debris — making the sequence a callback to the original game’s chaotic physics while adding something the 1999 arcade cabinet never attempted at this scale.
New Moves Behind the Wheel
The PlayStation Blog entry authored by SEGA of America’s Sr. Director of Communications, Richard George, lays out the specific driving mechanics the Germany map introduces players to. The Germany demo is designed to teach three named moves — Crazy Dash, Crazy Stop, and the new Crazy Drift — alongside a Nitro Boost speed mechanic that delivers a burst of speed at full extension. Crazy Drift is the mechanic new to World Tour specifically: prior Crazy Taxi games offered drifting as an emergent consequence of the physics rather than a named, player-activated technique. Pairing it with Nitro Boost while executing slick combos through tight German corners is the intended skill expression the map is built to train.
The online multiplayer mode, previewed at Opening Night Live on August 25 and confirmed fully playable at the Gamescom booth, puts up to six competing drivers on the same city simultaneously, competing for the same passenger pool and discovering routes to beat rivals. The city becomes a competitive resource, not merely a backdrop.
Real-World Brands Rooted in German Soil
Puma and Zwilling are confirmed as in-game storefronts on the Germany map, joining what SEGA describes as a “growing roster of recognizable real-life stores” in the spirit of the original Crazy Taxi’s licensed landmarks. The selection is not incidental. Puma was founded in Herzogenaurach, Germany, and Zwilling in Solingen — both are German-headquartered companies integrated into a German map. That kind of location-specific brand curation echoes the original game’s feel of a city that existed before you arrived in it, rather than the generic-sponsor texture of later games in the series.
The original Crazy Taxi (1999) featured Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Tower Records as passenger destinations — a design choice that made the fictional West Coast city feel as commercially alive as a real American urban environment. Those licenses were stripped from the 2010 Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network rerelease, replacing branded destinations with generic stand-ins and swapping The Offspring and Bad Religion’s songs for lesser-known tracks. Many fans found the result fundamentally diminished. World Tour appears to be consciously course-correcting on both fronts simultaneously.
The Music Is Back
The Offspring and Bad Religion are both confirmed returning acts, with specific tracks named for the first time. The Offspring contribute “All I Want” and “Change the World.” Bad Religion contribute “Them and Us,” “Inner Logic,” and “Ten in 2010” — the last of which scores the Opening Night Live multiplayer trailer. SEGA has confirmed additional artists and further soundtrack announcements will follow. What is confirmed now represents the core of what fans wanted restored from the 1999–2002 originals.
Kenji Kanno on Building Worlds Worth Visiting
Kenji Kanno, the original series creator who returns as creative producer at Sega Sapporo Studio, spoke to press at Gamescom about the design philosophy shaping the five-city structure. “It’s all about journeys across the world, and to bring those international feelings,” he told Traxion. “To build up the worlds was very important this time. I think it’s a new experience to have the [location] design from all around the world and to mix it into a better experience for the fans.”
Kanno has also teased that the campaign — in which Axel pursues the driver who stole his taxi — will contain “surprises” that will make longtime fans feel that things they thought impossible in older entries are now firmly on the table. Germany is one of five cities in the full game; the others have not yet been officially confirmed.
Germany also brings a full roster of returning characters alongside Axel: Gena, B.D. Joe, and Gus — the other three selectable drivers from the original 1999 arcade game — are confirmed for World Tour and visible in the Opening Night Live multiplayer trailer. The magician passenger visible in the Germany trailer — Axel picks him up mid-route, card tricks and all — is one of many eccentric fares the game promises.
Part of SEGA’s Largest Franchise Revival Push
Crazy Taxi: World Tour is the first major console entry in the franchise since 2002’s Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller. It is part of a broader SEGA campaign — announced under the “Power Surge” banner and expanded in 2026 into the Sega Universe revival initiative — to revive dormant IP alongside new entries in Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, and Streets of Rage. The initiative, announced with the tagline “no old, stay gold,” targets both franchise loyalists who have waited over two decades and a new generation that never experienced the originals.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour is being developed by Sega Sapporo Studio. The game was formally announced at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2026 alongside a reveal trailer.
How to Get In the CNT
The Multiplayer Closed Network Test will run from 5:00 p.m. PT on September 11 to 5:00 p.m. PT on September 13. The test covers PS5, Xbox, and PC via Steam or Xbox on PC. Applications are accepted through August 31. Participation is not guaranteed — selection is random or through priority consideration available via the game’s official Discord.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour will launch in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam. It is an Xbox Play Anywhere title. The game is available to wishlist on Xbox, PlayStation Store, and Steam.
Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat are the confirmed locations in Crazy Taxi: World Tour?
Germany is the only internationally confirmed map so far, following the previously revealed West Coast (San Francisco-inspired) map. The final game will feature five open-world cities in total; the remaining three have not yet been officially named.
Will The Offspring and Bad Religion be in Crazy Taxi: World Tour?
Yes. SEGA has confirmed the return of both bands, with specific tracks named: The Offspring’s “All I Want” and “Change the World,” and Bad Religion’s “Ten in 2010,” “Them and Us,” and “Inner Logic.” Additional artists are still to be announced. The original music was stripped from the 2010 XBLA and PSN re-release, making its return to the new entry a deliberate correction of one of the franchise’s most-criticized decisions.
How do I sign up for the Crazy Taxi World Tour beta?
Applications for the Multiplayer Closed Network Test are open through August 31 at the game’s official website. The CNT runs September 11–13 at 5:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. PT on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Entry is not guaranteed; selection is random or through priority programs in the official Crazy Taxi Discord. You can find CNT details and registration at the game’s official page.
What is new about how Crazy Taxi World Tour plays compared to the originals?
Three named “Crazy Moves” — Crazy Dash, Crazy Stop, and the franchise-new Crazy Drift — form the game’s core driving vocabulary, paired with a Nitro Boost mechanic. The biggest structural change is online multiplayer, in which multiple drivers compete for the same passenger pool on a shared map simultaneously. A separate Arcade Mode designed to preserve the original single-player experience is also confirmed. Full gameplay mechanics details are available via the PlayStation Blog’s Gamescom update.