Sega claims AI is used to support development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour, but will not be used to replace performers or creative tasks.
UPDATED (June 8 @ 12:27 p.m. PT): Kotaku recently spoke to Crazy Taxi: World Tour director Kenji Kanno, who provided further clarification on the use of AI in the game. Kanno claims generative AI is only used “as a reference” and everything that would go into the game is “made by an actual human.” You can read his full explanation, as delivered by a translator and posted on Kotaku, below:
We used it as a reference. So our artists would pull up [and] generate some of their ideas and then they would look at that, you know, generated image and then they would draw the actual thing. So actual creators, everything from programming to assets, everything is made by an actual human. It’s only used as a reference for them to look at and then they would actually create the actual thing that would go into the game.
For us, the extent of how we use generative AI is only what I mentioned earlier,” Kanno said. “[It’s] just for ideas and just as a reference. Moving forward in the future [generative AI] is probably going to be more of a hot topic, but I think that’s all I can say right now on how we use generative AI for this game.
UPDATED (June 7 @ 3:57 p.m. PT): Sega has provided Game Informer with a statement explaining in deeper detail how AI is used in Crazy Taxi and Sega studio development:
At SEGA Corporation, generative AI is available as an optional support tool for developers, enabling our teams to focus more on creative tasks and ultimately focus on what matters most: delivering better games to our consumers.
Generative AI was used to support our teams during the development of background assets for ”Crazy Taxi: World Tour”. Assets generated were still subject to review by the development team.
No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.
The difference in verbiage between the above statement and the original disclosure below is the addition of the line “Assets were still subject to review by the development team.”
Original Story: Crazy Taxi: World Tour has an AI-generated content disclosure on its Steam page that shares that the developers are utilizing generative AI to support the development of the game.
Sega describes how it uses generative AI in Crazy Taxi on its Steam page disclosure, as shared below:
At SEGA Corporation, we utilize generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus more on creative tasks.
We have used such generative AI support tools during development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour. No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase 2026 this weekend. Much of it looked like good news, including the return of series creator Kenji Kanno as director of the latest game. World Tour aims to recapture the high-octane energy of the previous games while elevating the style with a new globetrotting campaign, vehicle customization, and multiplayer.
The AI content disclosure gives pause and leaves us a little concerned about what’s going into Crazy Taxi: World Tour as it targets release on consoles and PC in 2027. As we keep an eye on it, stay tuned to the Crazy Taxi: World Tour topic for more updates and news.
Shacknews staff does not use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their content. Shacknews strictly prohibits the use of its content for AI training or to generate text, including text in the style or format used for this publication. Shacknews reserves all rights to this work.
TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on BlueSky @JohnnyChugs.
