Sega’s New Crazy Taxi: World Tour Lands in AI Controversy Right at Launch

After more than two decades of silence, Sega finally brought Crazy Taxi back — and the internet had a lot of feelings about it. The reveal of Crazy Taxi: World Tour during the Xbox Games Showcase was initially met with enormous excitement. The classic franchise was back, Axel was behind the wheel again, and the game promised five cities, online multiplayer, vehicle customisation, and a story-driven campaign. Fans who grew up with the Dreamcast original had every reason to celebrate. Then, within hours of the announcement, the conversation took a very different turn.

SEGA releases AI-generated content disclosure for the new 'Crazy Taxi' game

"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… pic.twitter.com/3jNOhD3J7q

— Culture Crave ???? (@CultureCrave) June 7, 2026

The AI Disclosure That Sparked the Backlash

Players noticed that the game’s Steam page contained a generative AI disclosure, confirming that AI tools had been used during development. Sega clarified that all AI-generated content was reviewed by human developers and that no AI was used in relation to any performers featured in the game. Series creator Kenji Kanno later provided more detail, explaining that AI was used purely as a reference tool — artists would generate an image to visualise an idea, then hand-draw the actual asset themselves before it was integrated into the game. In his words, the AI played “one small part of the creative process” and was never the final output.

Can Sega Win Back the Goodwill?

Despite the clarification, the backlash was significant. The controversy put a serious dampener on what should have been an easy win for Sega, with many players feeling that even a limited use of AI tools doesn’t sit right in an industry built on human creativity. What made it sting more is that Crazy Taxi is a beloved franchise that fans have patiently waited over 20 years to see return — and this wasn’t the conversation anyone wanted to be having at launch.

Crazy Taxi: World Tour is still scheduled for a 2027 release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. The game itself looks genuinely exciting, but Sega will need to work hard to rebuild goodwill as the launch window approaches.