Crazy Taxi: World Tour Gamescom 2026 Interview

Crazy Taxi Legend Kenji Kanno Gives Us The Lowdown On World Tour Published Sep 2, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. It’s been 24 years since the last home console Crazy Taxi game. There was every reason to think, because of this, that Sega had moved on from the series, instead shifting focus to its bigger titles like Sonic the Hedgehog, Persona, and Like a Dragon. In 2023, though, its long-awaited return was finally confirmed during The Game Awards. It’s not been all smooth sailing since its reveal, however. Early reports that it had Fortnite-inspired live-service elements upset longtime fans, and after its full reveal at Summer Game Fest 2026, it was confirmed that generative AI had been used in development. This felt like a death knell. Not to mention that the original was delisted, meaning this already-controversial new entry was paving over the classic. I was one of those with concerns, but after playing the game last week at Gamescom, many of those worries were alleviated. Alongside my hands-on session, I got to sit down with the original game’s creator and World Tour director, Kenji Kanno, to discuss everything about the new game. The Long-Awaited Return Of Crazy Taxi Kanno is clearly delighted to be bringing Crazy Taxi back. He tells me that he and his boss had been envisaging a return for a while, and that now, “the timing was perfect.” He admits he “can’t put into words just how excited he is,” but hopes that, given all of the bad in the world, “everybody is smiling soon.” While Kanno is clearly excited, World Tour won’t be the traditional game that many had hoped for. I had to address that, especially the live-service elements that had been heavily rumored. “We wanted to provide a whole package for the fans of the original games who know Crazy Taxi already. For this, we have the campaign mode where you can play alone and enjoy the story,” Kanno tells me. “But then again, for new fans, we have the multiplayer mode where you can race with others.” It’s likely many of the games-as-a-service elements have been dialed back, given Sega’s recent move, and Kanno was reluctant to tell me how much the game would evolve over time, but he was happy to share why multiplayer was so important this time around. “Since the original game, we’ve had requests to make a multiplayer Crazy Taxi game,” he says. “With the original, this was difficult to achieve, but this time, we had a lot of people who were good at playing multiplayer games. We thought it would be a good idea to combine the staff knowledge with new game design philosophies.” I don't want everyone to play the multiplayer mode. As somebody who almost solely plays single-player games, I’ll admit the switch to multiplayer was a concern for me, but it seems like the worries were unfounded. “I don't want everyone to play the multiplayer mode. I want people to enjoy the single-player campaign mode, and I want people to enjoy the classic mode, and I want people to enjoy the multiplayer mode,” he says. “There is enough content for whatever modes you enjoy.” Evolving The Formula, But Keeping Everybody Happy Sega Crazy Taxi was released in an era where grungy rock music was in. We saw it with games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Burnout, but Crazy Taxi relied on it too, with The Offspring and Bad Religion being central to its soundtrack. Would we get more of the same this time around? “I always had a plan for the soundtrack, and I also heard different voices of stakeholders asking me, 'Will there be Offspring? Will there be Bad Religion?’” he says. “That's the reason why I chose to stick with this kind of music. On the soundtrack, there will be another giant surprise I cannot reveal right now, but please look forward to the information coming out. I'm sure everybody will be like, ‘Oh!’” Another staple of the early games was the Crazy Box Challenges. These saw you complete stunts or challenges to rack up high scores. These have seemingly been replaced by missions around World Tour’s more open map. “I was supposing that some voices like yours would come out [who enjoyed the Crazy Box Challenges], so please remain patient. I thought about it. You’ve already enjoyed the demo, and maybe you can imagine something out of it,” Kanno tells me. One of the things that I figured would replace the challenges was a set of missions dotted around the world. These were more intense versions of the usual fares. I played one in which I had to transport a character from the top of a castle to an airport, where he jumped onto a moving plane. It was wild. Kanno says these missions were “created with a playful mind” and all fit into the game’s wider story. After playing the game and speaking to its director, I’m far more confident about Crazy Taxi: World Tour. As a big fan of the originals, I feel confident that Sega has the winning formula for this one. Released 2027 Developer(s) Sega Publisher(s) Sega Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Cross-Platform Play Full Genre(s) Racing, Action, Adventure