Ubisoft has officially unveiled its previously rumoured next-generation persistent online racing game, The Crew.

Set for release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC in early 2014, the racer is being developed by Ivory Tower, the studio formed by key Test Drive Unlimited developers, in conjunction with Ubisoft Reflections (Driver: San Francisco).

Creative director Julian Gerighty introduced the racer, confirming an online-persistent world, that lets you group up with friends and play as a crew in every race and event.

"You can play solo of course, but group up with your friends, form a crew and play every single mission in co-op," explained Gerighty.

"We believe that sharing and competing is essential, so we've made the entire game an online, persistent world," he said.

The game takes place on an open-world consisting of 'the entire USA', said Gerighty.

"You'll experience all the adventures of driving as you seek to infiltrate and take over the criminal underworld one city at a time."

A live demonstration showed an illegal street race across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.

A CGI trailer showed street racing, sat nav maps, a police chase in a Nissan 370Z Nismo and Chevy Camaro, and the seeming ability to upgrade cars with new parts such as suspension, turbos and nitrous.

Gerighty said the police car we saw could be AI, or the could be human-controlled.