"Crazy Taxi: World Tour" had fans excited and hyped for the upcoming game, but eagle-eyed fans immediately noticed its AI declaration on Steam, which immediately led to a controversy that SEGA has now responded to.
SEGA Responds to 'Crazy Taxi: World Tour' AI Controversy
Game Informer reported that SEGA recently addressed the backlash regarding its AI use controversy shortly after the company officially announced and dropped the trailer for its latest game, "Crazy Taxi: World Tour."
The company shared a statement to the publication, which confirmed that generative AI was used specifically to support the development of background assets, and that those assets were reviewed by the development team before being included in the game.
SEGA also clarified that no AI was used in reference to any of the performers featured in the game.
The latest controversy has become the talk of the town in the gaming community as it is widely known that many fans and gamers still frown upon the use of generative AI in games.
'Crazy Taxi: World Tour' AI Use Controversy Rattles Fans
According to ComicBook Gaming, the entire ordeal started when fans rushed to Steam to wishlist the game after the Xbox Games Showcase reveal, but they quickly noticed that the "Crazy Taxi: World Tour" listing included an AI-generated Content Disclosure.
This confirmed that generative AI was used during the development of the game, which fans were quick to point out online. It is known that Steam requires developers to disclose when generative AI content is present in a game, and SEGA complied with that requirement immediately.
Following the initial backlash, SEGA immediately shared a statement on the game's Steam page to clarify how AI was used in the game. However, the statement was rather vague in discussing what exactly they used AI for.
"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.
"We have used such generative AI support tools during the development of 'Crazy Taxi: World Tour.' No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game," SEGA added.
AI Use in Games Is a No-No for Many
The community has been split regarding the issue as some players expressed frustration immediately, with comments in the "Crazy Taxi" subreddit ranging from flat-out rejection of the game to players saying they would stick with the classic entries instead.
There are some, however, that do not mind the AI use by SEGA on the new game, noting that some level of AI tooling has likely been part of game development pipelines across the industry for some time now.
Some of these users lauded SEGA's disclosure rather than waiting to be called out. Quite a few recent games have tried to conceal their AI use but were subsequently called out by fans, making SEGA's upfront disclosure a notable contrast to how other studios have handled the same issue.
"Crazy Taxi: World Tour" is currently set to release in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.
