I spoke to Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac’s producers about the two-way collaboration and what excites them most about the upcoming kart racer

A collab to devour

Features By Rhys Wood published 15 September 2025

(Image credit: Sega / Bandai Namco)

Ambitious kart racer Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is just around the corner, but Sonic Team’s franchise won’t be the only one in the limelight, as a certain yellow peril’s 45th anniversary celebrations continue with the upcoming release of Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac and a two-way collaboration between both games.

In case you’re unfamiliar, CrossWorlds will feature Pac-Man as a playable racer (along with a track inspired by the series) as part of its downloadable content (DLC) roadmap. Meanwhile, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (a fully 3D remake of the well-loved PlayStation 2 and GameCube platformer) will receive a Sonic-themed DLC pack including the iconic Green Hill Zone as a playable stage.

At Gamescom 2025, I got to sit down with Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka and Bandai Namco’s Yuji Yoshii. I quizzed them on everything from what excites them most about the upcoming collaboration to their respective favorite games in each other’s long-running franchise.

Put a ring on it

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has been making waves in the run-up to release, with full cross-platform online play being one of its standout features. It’s not, however, what Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka is most excited about.

“What distinguishes us from other racing games are the Travel Rings,” said Iizuka. “When you come to the second lap, you’ll pass through a Travel Ring that takes you to a completely different world. I think this surprise element is something which really stands out. Every time you play, there’s something new, exciting, and surprising.”

Travel Ring locations are something that Sonic Team is really betting the farm on. We won’t just be driving to familiar Sonic locations. Instead, they’re quite literally an opportunity to tie into other popular franchises such as Minecraft, SpongeBob SquarePants, and, of course, Pac-Man.

“Initially, we were approached by Sega,” said Yuji Yoshii, producer on Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac, “They said it would be wonderful to have Pac-Man in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. But we also thought that a two-way collaboration would be great, so that was something we proposed to Sega. We were also really drawn by the uniqueness of the Travel Ring [system], so we’re really excited about being able to join in!”

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