Crazy Taxi has always felt competitive. Every passenger is a race against the clock, every shortcut matters, every ridiculous jump is an attempt to squeeze a few more dollars out of a run before time expires. The strange part is that for most of the franchise's history, the person you were racing was essentially yourself. Crazy Taxi: World Tour is finally changing that. At Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, SEGA released what it officially calls the Crazy Taxi: World Tour Multiplayer First-Look trailer, showing rival drivers sharing the city, competing for passengers, and hunting for shortcuts — turning the familiar point-to-point Crazy Taxi formula into a live competition (Gematsu). Returning drivers Axel, Gena, B.D. Joe, and Gus were all shown racing at once.
Modes and matchmaking had already been detailed in late July — Gamescom's trailer was the first time players actually saw rival cabbies sharing a city in motion. Beginning September 11, a closed network test lets selected players try two online modes, Pickup Race and Cops 'N' Cabbies, both playable through Ranked or Custom matchmaking (VGChartz). Crazy Taxi has always rewarded driving faster and finding better routes — was competitive multiplayer the obvious next step hiding inside the formula for more than 25 years?
