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Sega has announced a new map for Crazy Taxi: World Tour, and this one is Japan. The reveal came during the “[TGS2026] Xbox Game Show 2026 Broadcast” that aired on September 17, 2026, which included a fresh trailer of a cab tearing through Japanese streets.
The game is due out sometime in 2027. It’s coming to PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. Japan joins Germany, the map Sega had already shown off, as the second confirmed destination.
I’ll be honest: my first thought watching the trailer was, “wait, is that Dreamcast feel actually coming back?” A fare-carrying taxi threads between traffic down a street that’s part Shibuya, part Akihabara, part neither. That old, gloriously reckless rush is being rebuilt for 2027.
I’m one of those people who played the original into the ground on Dreamcast. Which is exactly why I’m watching where this sequel’s city design is headed with a very critical eye.
What kind of city is the new “Japan” map in Crazy Taxi: World Tour?
The Japan map isn’t a recreation of any real city. It’s a fictional town built to distill the image of Japan as seen from the outside.
A landscape where old-world traditional architecture and atmospheric streets overlap with the energy of a modern metropolis
That description tracks with the footage. Streets lined with wooden buildings and a neon-drenched entertainment district sit inside the same map. Famitsu described it as “a city that feels like Shibuya or Akihabara,” but from what the trailer actually shows, Sega isn’t trying to nail any specific location.
For Crazy Taxi, that’s the right call. The joy of this series has never come from memorizing accurate geography. It comes from abusing terrain as shortcuts: hills, staircases, back alleys, guardrails. Japanese streetscapes are a treasure trove of elevation changes and narrow cut-throughs, which makes them flat-out strong raw material.
Now the concern. “Japan as foreigners see it” always carries the risk of landing, for Japanese players, as a pile of familiar symbols. If it stops at torii gates, paper lanterns and vending machines equals Japan, it’ll be dull. Whether Sega clears that bar with the design of the driving lines themselves is where this map gets made or broken.
When does it launch? Platforms and pricing, latest details
The release is planned for sometime in 2027, and as of September 2026 the price has not been announced. It will land on five platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Nintendo Switch 2.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Title | Crazy Taxi: World Tour |
| Platforms | PC (Steam) / PS5 / Xbox Series X|S / Xbox on PC / Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Release window | Planned for 2027 |
| Price | Not announced (as of September 2026) |
| Developer / Publisher | Sega |
| Maps revealed | Germany / Japan (added at TGS 2026) |
| TGS 2026 | Playable demo at the Sega/Atlus booth |
The detail worth flagging is Nintendo Switch 2 being on that list. Crazy Taxi is arcade-born, built around short, high-turnover runs, and that suits a handheld beautifully both on paper and in practice. A design where one session ends in a few minutes maps perfectly onto firing it up on the train.
How do story mode and six-player multiplayer work?
The game includes a story mode called World Tour, in which protagonist Axel travels the globe. On top of that, it supports online co-op and competitive multiplayer for up to six players.
Why bringing in a “story” matters
The original Crazy Taxi had nothing resembling a story. Haul fares before the clock runs out, rake in cash, done. That alone was enough to keep people talking about it for more than 20 years.
Stacking a globe-trotting story mode on top of that is almost certainly about manufacturing a reason to show each map off. Germany and Japan differ in street width and building height. A structure that walks you through them in sequence makes those differences much easier for players to notice.
There’s a worry attached, though: can Sega keep the story thin enough that it never gets in the way of the driving? If a cutscene breaks the rhythm every few minutes, the whole thing is backwards. The six-player multiplayer raises questions too, because it’s still unclear what six cabs running wild in that much traffic actually looks like on screen. It’s playable at the Sega/Atlus booth at TGS 2026, so hands-on impressions should surface soon.
Can you play the older Crazy Taxi games on modern hardware? A platform-by-platform guide
Plenty of people will want to dig into the back catalog while waiting for the new one. Here’s where every game stands as of September 2026.
✅ The verdict
Of the series’ four main entries, as of September 2026 the only one you can legitimately buy and play on current hardware is the original Crazy Taxi. Crazy Taxi 2, Crazy Taxi 3 and Fare Wars have no current-platform release at all, so your only option is tracking down the original hardware. The flip side: the game that started it all is ready to go right now on both PC and Xbox.
(1) Playable via subscription or free
As of September 2026, no game in the series could be confirmed as part of any subscription service.
| Title | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | — | No qualifying title could be confirmed as of September 2026 |
(2) Playable as a standalone purchase
The original Crazy Taxi is still being sold on both the Xbox store and Steam.
| Title | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Crazy Taxi | Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One | HD version with high-resolution visuals and 16:9 widescreen support. Includes four drivers, two cities and the minigame collection. Check the store for pricing |
| Crazy Taxi | PC (Steam) | Still available as of September 2026. Check the store for pricing |
(3) Playable via remaster or new release
The series’ true flagship for modern hardware is the very game this article is about.
| Title | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Crazy Taxi: World Tour | PC / PS5 / Xbox Series X|S / Switch 2 | Planned for 2027, price not announced. All-new entry |
| Crazy Taxi (HD version) | Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One | A port of the Dreamcast game with higher resolution and widescreen support |
(4) Hard to get on modern hardware
The three follow-ups have all fallen off current platforms.
| Title | Original hardware | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Crazy Taxi 2 | Dreamcast | No current-platform release. Included in Fare Wars on PSP |
| Crazy Taxi 3: High Roller | Xbox (original) | Not supported by Xbox 360-era backward compatibility. You need original Xbox hardware |
| Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars | PSP | Packs in the first game and Crazy Taxi 2 with an all-new soundtrack and two-player support. No current-platform release |
| Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast version) | Dreamcast | The Dreamcast build itself isn’t sold anywhere. The Xbox HD port is effectively its successor |
Bottom line: the quickest move is to grab the original on Xbox or Steam. The design is more than two decades old, yet the thrill of launching off a hill and barreling down the wrong side of the road survives completely intact. As homework before the 2027 game, there’s no better teacher.
…My Dreamcast is still hooked up and in active duty, for the record. Although insisting that “the feel” doesn’t come through without a CRT is probably me edging into cranky-old-man territory.
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What the Japan map really tells us about Crazy Taxi: World Tour
Adding Japan makes one thing clear: this is a sequel that intends to compete on the personality of its cities.
Let’s run the key facts back. The new Japan map for Crazy Taxi: World Tour was revealed alongside a new trailer during the “[TGS2026] Xbox Game Show 2026 Broadcast” on September 17, 2026. It’s a fictional city that distills the outside world’s image of Japan, where historic streets sit right next to a modern metropolis. Release is planned for 2027 and the price has not been announced. Platforms are PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Nintendo Switch 2. The game features a story mode called World Tour plus online co-op and competitive multiplayer for up to six players, and it’s playable at the Sega/Atlus booth at TGS 2026.
A Japanese city packed with elevation changes and narrow cut-throughs is almost too good a match for the terrain-shredding driving Crazy Taxi is built on. Following Germany with Japan also signals that Sega plans to sell this game on how differently each map drives. Bringing that short, high-turnover loop back to a handheld via Switch 2 is the right call too. The risks that remain: a Japan that never gets past a foreigner’s checklist of symbols, and a story mode that saps the pacing. How six-player multiplayer holds together on screen is still an open question.
That reckless ride comes back in 2027. Until then, go sharpen your skills on the original.
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Snicker Kitamura
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