A player can play alone, or use split-screen to play with up to three friends in the same room, or compete online with up to 11 other people. The game provides different characters to choose from, such as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. Players can choose different vehicles and racing tracks. The ‘CrossWorlds’ name refers to the ability of the leading player to drive through a ‘Travel Ring’, which switches all players to a different world, mid-race (changing the track, vehicles and obstacles).
A player can send an ‘emote’ to another player, which is a character animation (for example, showing Sonic giving a thumbs-up). There are free monthly updates for the game planned for 2026, which include new content like guest characters. A player can also buy a Season Pass or a single downloadable pack of ‘crossover’ characters and content from other games or programmes like Minecraft or SpongeBob SquarePants.
There are no parental controls in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds. Although the game does not include text or voice chat, a player could communicate with other players on another chat app or on the device used for play. Parents may wish to set parental controls on the gaming platform or device being used to play the game on.
