Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is narrowing the field for its second year, with a new head-to-head Duel Mode leading a lengthy list of updates arriving when Year Two begins on Tuesday 3 November 2026. SEGA laid out the roadmap during the World Championship Finals livestream, detailing day one changes, three free characters and a second season pass built around six collaborations, with Godzilla, EVANGELION, Sanrio, FINAL FANTASY VII Remake and Persona among the franchises involved.
Duel Mode strips a race back to two competitors. Instead of managing a full grid, players face a single opponent and can see that rival’s items, gadgets and race position throughout, which turns item use into a back and forth of offence and defence. Alongside this sits a new Duel Boost gauge. It fills gradually over the course of a race and charges faster when players use items frequently, and it can be spent at strategic moments for large bursts of speed. Duel Mode will be playable in four ways:
- Friend Match: online races against friends, with customisable Race Rules, Items and CrossWorlds.
- Rival Duel Match: offline races against CPU Rivals, including free characters and any paid DLC characters the player owns. Beating every Rival earns rewards, among them a special Machine.
- Duel Match (Free Match): online races against randomly matched players.
- Duel Match (Best-of-10): limited-time online events with special rules, Duel Class ranks and Medal rewards for competitive play.
Gadget builds are also getting more room to experiment. The Grand Master Plate, a new gadget plate arriving at the start of Year Two, adds a seventh slot called the Super Slot. It accepts 1-slot gadgets, and any gadget placed there has its boosted effect amplified even further. Fifteen new gadgets join the collection on day one, with more planned for future content updates.
Another day one change affects who players meet on the track. Every character added to the roster since the game launched on 25 September 2025, whether free or paid DLC, will now appear as a CPU opponent in both online and offline modes.
The first three free additions for Year Two cover a returning SEGA icon, a licensed car and a Persona crossover:
- Bayonetta arrives on 3 November 2026 and is unlocked by playing Rival Duel matches.
- McLaren Racing follows later in November 2026. It is a Speed-type machine modelled on the real racing car, driven by Sonic and finished in McLaren’s Papaya and Anthracite livery.
- Aigis, a member of Persona 3’s Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad and a transfer student at Gekkoukan High, joins in early 2027 with her Palladion Dressy, an Acceleration-type machine.
Each free character will be followed by a themed Limited Time Event Festival, where players can earn bonus content by taking part in and winning Festival races. New Festivals will now run for ten days straight, while earlier Festivals will return for shorter periods.
The paid side of Year Two is Season Pass Two, made up of six premium DLC Packs, each tied to a collaboration with another entertainment franchise. The first lands on the same day Year Two begins.
Godzilla Pack (3 November 2026)
Course: Godzilla Escape
Machines: Godzilla Cruiser, King Ghidorah Coupe, Mothra Surf
Additional Jukebox music tracks and sounds
EVANGELION Pack (January 2027)
Course: Tokyo-III
Racers: Rei Ayanami, Asuka Shikinami Langley
Machines: EVA-01 (TEST TYPE), EVA-00 (PROTO TYPE), EVA-02 (PRODUCTION MODEL)
Additional Jukebox music tracks, character emotes and sounds
Virtual Sanrio Puroland Pack (Q2 2027)
Course: Virtual Sanrio Puroland
Racers: Hello Kitty, Kuromi
Machines: Hello Kitty Apple Kart, Kuromi Charming Cruiser
Additional Jukebox music tracks, character emotes and sounds
SEGALAND Pack (Q3 2027)
Course: SEGALAND
Machines: After Burner, OutRun, Super Megalo
Additional Jukebox music tracks and sounds
The contents of the final two packs have not been listed yet. The Midgar Pack (working title), drawn from the FINAL FANTASY VII Remake series, is due in Q3 2027, while the Reload Revival Royal Pack from the Persona series is slated for Q4 2027.
Season Pass Two also comes with some bonus content. The SEGA Controllers Decal Pack, available from 9 October 2026, adds decals of the GENESIS Controller, SEGA SATURN Controller, Dreamcast Controller and Dreamcast Visual Memory Unit.
The SEGA Consoles Pack also becomes available for purchase from 3 November 2026 and includes the Genesis Tower US, SegaSaturn JP and Dreamcast EU machines.
Players who own both Season Pass One and Season Pass Two will also be able to purchase Super Shadow from 3 November 2026, which adds Super Shadow as a racer along with the Super Dark Flare machine.
