Sega Won't Let AI Handle Game Creation, Executive Says

Sega is not handing the creative side of game development over to artificial intelligence, senior executive officer Tsuyoshi Saito told Nikkei, according to Kotaku. The company instead uses AI to improve efficiency in its publishing and corporate departments and to help generate business ideas.

Saito said Sega remains cautious about how AI is applied during development and draws a line at entrusting the creative aspects of games to the technology.

Saito also said Sega has been considering for some time how to engage with indie game developers. He said the company sees potential in a win-win arrangement in which indie games thrive by using Sega's distribution network and marketing expertise.

Sega said it has no immediate plans to sell indie games under its own brand.

Earlier AI scrutiny

Earlier this year, Sega's Crazy Taxi: World Tour disclosed on Steam that generative AI had been used in the game's creation, prompting questions about how. Game Informer reported that genAI had been used for background assets, while Kotaku was later told that no actual in-game assets were created by AI and that the tools were used only for reference. In 2025, Sega created a Generative AI Committee to oversee its use of the technology. At a conference in July of last year, the company said generative AI was already deeply integrated into daily operations, including chatbots and image and video generation, and noted concerns about the technology's energy consumption.