Lead: SEGA has laid out Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Year Two, starting November 3 with a new 1v1 Duel Mode, free racers Bayonetta and Aigis, and a six-pack Season Pass Two built around Godzilla, Evangelion, Sanrio, Final Fantasy VII, and Persona.
What happened
SEGA revealed the roadmap in a Year Two showcase on Friday, October 9. Year Two officially begins on November 3, 2026, a little over a year after the game launched on September 25, 2025.
The free day-one update adds Duel Mode, a one-on-one race type with a Duel Boost gauge that fills over time and faster with frequent item use. You can see your rival’s items, gadgets, and position. It comes in four flavors: offline Rival Duel matches against CPU rivals, online Free Match, limited-time Best-of-10 events with Duel Class ranks, and Friend Match. A new Grand Master Plate adds a seventh “Super Slot” that amplifies one-slot gadgets, 15 new gadgets arrive on day one, and post-launch characters, free and paid, will now appear as CPU opponents.
Free characters include Bayonetta on November 3 (unlocked via Rival Duel), a McLaren Racing machine driven by Sonic later in November, and Persona 3’s Aigis with her Palladion Dressy machine in early 2027. Each free drop is followed by a themed ten-day Festival event.
Season Pass Two costs $29.99 and is on sale now. Its six paid packs, per SEGA’s announcement as reported by Gematsu and Nintendo Life:
- Godzilla Pack, November 3: Godzilla Escape course plus Godzilla Cruiser, King Ghidorah Coupe, and Mothra Surf machines.
- EVANGELION Pack, January 2027: Tokyo-III course, Rei Ayanami and Asuka Shikinami Langley as racers, and EVA-01, EVA-00, and EVA-02 machines.
- Virtual Sanrio Puroland Pack, Q2 2027: Hello Kitty and Kuromi as racers.
- SEGALAND Pack, Q3 2027: After Burner, OutRun, and Super Megalo machines.
- Midgar Pack (working title) from the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, Q3 2027.
- Reload Revival Royal Pack from the Persona series, Q4 2027.
Pass holders also get a SEGA Controllers decal pack (available October 9) and a SEGA Consoles machine pack (November 3). Owners of both Season Pass One and Two get Super Shadow and his Super Dark Flare machine as bonus content from November 3. SEGA also cut prices permanently: the Standard Edition drops from $69.99 to $39.99 and the Digital Deluxe Edition from $89.99 to $59.99. A Year Two Digital Deluxe Edition (game plus Season Pass Two) sells for $59.99, and a physical Year One Edition with Season Pass One is $59.99 at select retailers.
Why Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Year Two matters
For an anime-leaning audience, the EVANGELION Pack is the headline. Rei and Asuka racing through Tokyo-III, with the Evas themselves as karts, is precisely the kind of crossover that sells a season pass on its own. Add Aigis as a free racer and a Persona pack at the end of 2027, and SEGA is leaning hard on its Atlus side and on Japanese pop culture rather than only Sonic history.
The price cut matters as much as the content. Knocking $30 off the Standard Edition is a clear play for new players ahead of the holidays, and Duel Mode gives the competitive crowd a format that rewards reading an opponent rather than surviving an item storm. Turning post-launch racers into CPU opponents is a small change that makes the paid roster feel present even if you never buy it.
The flip side: this is a long roadmap, stretching to Q4 2027, and only the Godzilla pack has a fixed date. Fans eyeing the Final Fantasy VII and Persona packs are paying now for content SEGA has not yet detailed.
What we know vs what is rumored
- Confirmed: Year Two begins November 3, 2026, with Duel Mode, the Grand Master Plate, 15 new gadgets, and Bayonetta as a free racer.
- Confirmed: Season Pass Two at $29.99 with six packs and the release windows listed above; permanent price cuts in effect now.
- Unconfirmed: Which racers, courses, or machines the Midgar and Persona packs will include.
- Unconfirmed: Exact dates for the Sanrio, SEGALAND, Midgar, and Persona packs beyond their quarter windows, and regional pricing outside U.S. dollars.
What happens next
November 3 is the big day: Duel Mode, Bayonetta, the Godzilla Pack, the SEGA Consoles Pack, and Super Shadow all land together, with the McLaren machine later that month. EVANGELION follows in January 2027 and Aigis in early 2027. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is available on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Sources: Gematsu — Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Year Two updates and DLC announced; Nintendo Life — Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds “Year Two” Roadmap Revealed