Crazy Taxi World Tour's AI Excuses Ruin This Retro Return

Crazy Taxi World Tour got its first official look at Summer Game Fest 2026 and retro game fans should be excited.

While it’s never been one of SEGA’s biggest series it’s one of the best arcade games going, a must-have addition to your SEGA Dreamcast game collection if you have one. You can also play it on Xbox if you bought it back in the day, via backwards compatibility.

Crazy Taxi World Tour is taking the series global and GAMINGbible got a closer look at the gameplay via a behind-closed-doors presentation at SGF.

So far the game’s looking solid. Driving looks chaotic, the music slaps, and the soul of the originals is very much present no doubt thanks to the OG creator Kenji Kanno returning as the game’s director.

New countries will be explorable with new challenges and game modes. For instance one mission will have you dropping off hot pizzas instead of passengers. You’ll also be able to customise your taxi and there’ll even be a campaign diving deep into the main protagonist Axel.

We’re eager to see, and play, more but there’s a massive caveat that’s dividing gamers as we speak. Generative AI was used during production.

SEGA

Now SEGA has already released a statement responding to the backlash, but as reported by Kotaku Kenji Kanno went into more detail on what AI tools were used and what's left over in the final game.

According to Kotaku Kanno said via a translator that AI was only used “as a reference” for the game’s artists. An image of what the artists would like to create would be generated, before then being hand-made by an actual human.

While it’s believed no actual in-game assets were made with AI the fact AI was used at all is hard to defend.

Gamers have made it abundantly clear that they don’t want these tools infecting their games. Just take a look at the backlash Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios received but using AI in the early planning stages of Divinity.

It unfortunately leaves Crazy Taxi: World Tour in a difficult spot. Fans around the world have been patiently waiting for this series to return and this controversy has put a dampener on what should have been a happy occasion.

We’re just as excited to see the Crazy Taxi series continue and yet the mere mention of these AI tools left us rolling our eyes and shaking our heads.

We could go around in circles arguing what forms and functions of AI are acceptable if there are any at all, but in an industry as creative as gaming it just doesn’t feel right.

What should have been an easy win for SEGA has become something malignant, and it becomes increasingly worrying when you remember more classic SEGA IPs are making a return later down the line.

If AI was instrumental in the development of the new Jet Set Radio that might just be the final straw.

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