Sega officially revealed Crazy Taxi: World Tour at the June 8 Xbox Games Showcase with plans to release the game in 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X platforms [1, 2]. The title serves as a reboot of the classic Crazy Taxi series, featuring original driver Alex, a San Francisco-themed map, and new side activities such as fishing and pizza delivery [1, 2].
The company disclosed on the game’s Steam page that generative artificial intelligence was employed during development to assist in creating background assets. However, Sega emphasized no AI was used for performers’ references or voice acting [1, 3, 4, 5, 2]. Kenji Kanno, creator of the Crazy Taxi franchise, explained at the Summer Game Fest Play Days event that generative AI served only as a reference tool for artists. He said, "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" [5].
Kanno also noted that generative AI is mainly used for idea generation and could become a larger topic of discussion in the future [3]. Sega stated its goal with AI tools is to free developers to focus on creative work and improve content quality. "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," the company said [1, 4, 5, 2].
The announcement followed Sega’s December 2023 declaration to reboot five classic franchises, including Crazy Taxi [1]. Reactions among players and the gaming community have been mixed, with some expressing concerns over artistic quality, developer job security, and ethical issues related to AI use [1, 2].
Kenji Kanno provided clarifications on the AI usage during the June 8–9 Summer Game Fest Play Days [3, 5]. Crazy Taxi: World Tour is set to launch worldwide in 2027 across multiple platforms, with further updates expected as the release approaches [1, 2].
