One of gaming’s most beloved arcade franchises is making a comeback. Crazy Taxi: World Tour has been officially announced with a trailer, and is set to launch in 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 and PC. The reveal follows SEGA’s 2021 plan to revive several of its classic franchises, with Crazy Taxi among the names on that list. Five years later, the game is finally taking shape.
The trailer stays true to the series’ frantic arcade spirit: players race against the clock to deliver passengers to their destinations as fast as possible. But World Tour expands the formula with secondary activities and minigames, and, as the title suggests, the action will span multiple cities around the world. The final moments of the trailer make that global scope explicit.
The AI controversy
What has generated more discussion than the game itself is a disclosure on its Steam page, where SEGA openly states that generative AI tools were used during development. The company is careful to frame this as support for the development team rather than a replacement for human creativity, stating that the technology was used primarily to streamline certain production tasks and allow developers to focus more on the creative aspects of the project. SEGA also specifies that no AI system was used in connection with the actors or performers involved in the game.
The admission has divided opinion, as similar announcements increasingly do across the games industry and beyond. SEGA is far from alone in taking this path. The use of AI in game development is becoming more widespread, and the debate it generates shows no signs of cooling.
A wider industry problem
The arguments around artistic integrity carry a particular weight in this context. Crazy Taxi is a loud, chaotic, unpretentious franchise. It is not the kind of project where questions of creative purity tend to land with great force. But the underlying concern is serious regardless of the title involved: the growing use of AI in creative industries raises real questions about jobs, quality, and the long-term direction of the medium.
The worry is not abstract. As AI becomes more embedded in production pipelines, the risk is that studios prioritise efficiency over inspiration, delivering products that are technically functional but creatively hollow. At the same time, the purchasing power of the average consumer continues to erode. The combination is uncomfortable.
Crazy Taxi: World Tour may well turn out to be a perfectly enjoyable game. But the conversation it has already sparked is one the industry will be having long after its 2027 release date.
