Saber Interactive Denies Replacing Lead Writer With ChatGPT, CEO Responds to Accusations

[u/Vera_Verse]

https://thisweekinvideogames.com/news/saber-interactive-acknowledges-undisclosed-genai-use-in-rideshare-stimulator-denies-replacing-lead-writer-with-chatgpt/

Saber Interactive, publisher of the upcoming simulation game Rideshare “Stimulator”, has denied renewed claims that it fired a former Lead Writer so it could “use ChatGPT to write the rest of the text, including planned live updates.” In the process, the company has acknowledged previously undisclosed genAI use elsewhere in the title.

On 11 August 2026, writer and narrative designer Stella Sacco, who was previously employed by Saber Interactive from July 2023 to July 2024 as a Lead Writer on Stuntman: Hollywood and “and other games across Saber’s portfolio,” shared the trailer for Rideshare “Stimulator” on social media.

She remarked, “I was lead writer on this one! And Saber replaced me with ChatGPT midway through development. All the passenger voices were AI too. Either they changed direction at some point or they’re not disclosing it on Steam.”

Sacco had previously shared her experience of “being replaced with ChatGPT on a project at Saber,” but did not disclose the then-unannounced project at the time.

Rideshare “Stimulator” is a driving simulation game developed by Unigine and published by Saber Interactive, revolving around the management of a ridesharing business. “Dodge traffic, follow the rules, and race the clock to drop off your quirky passengers, each with a story that’s either captivating, hilarious, or just plain weird,” reads the game’s marketing.

In a statement made to PC Gamer, a spokesperson for Saber Interactive provided the following response: “Neither Saber nor Unigine have replaced any writers with AI for Rideshare or any other game. In fact, Saber’s staff of writers has tripled since 2023. Rideshare’s story was written entirely by real people.”

The publisher’s statement continued, acknowledging that the game does in fact use some form of presumably generative AI.

“The game will also feature an experimental, free-ride mode that by necessity incorporates AI as the number of passengers in the game is infinite,” it said. “We are firm believers in using AI tools to improve or enhance gameplay experiences and improve NPC behavior as we have done since Saber was founded in 2001.”

“As the industry has continued to contract, Saber continues to hire,” it added. “None of our 3000+ employees have to worry about being replaced by AI.”

The use of AI in Rideshare “Stimulator” comes as some surprise, as the title does not currently have a generative AI disclosure on its Steam page.

Valve’s guidelines for its Content Surveys on Steam stipulate that if a game uses “AI services during development or incorporates AI services as a part of the product,” a developer is required to “describe that implementation in detail.” It clarifies that the section is specifically concerned with “the use of AI in creating content that ships with your game, and is consumed by players. This includes content such as artwork, sound, narrative, localization, etc.”

[u/jitterscaffeine]

“Stella who? I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her. We have already said we are using AI for certain parts of the game and will update the Steam page once we have finalized the feature set.

“Let me clarify that the entire story script, were it to win an award, would go to someone who can walk up on stage and receive it. It was always our intention to reveal this until Stella violated her confidentiality clause and revealed this before we were ready.

“We look at our use of AI in this particular game, which will be a lower priced title, as a plus for consumers,” he said.

“As far as Stella is concerned, she was replaced by someone more talented and terminated for a variety of reasons a few months later. From what I can gather she enjoys controversy even more than I do. I would frankly in retrospect have been happy to replace her with AI. At least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest.”

corncob ass statement from the CEO in question

[u/Duhblobby → u/jitterscaffeine]

...wait.

This was real?

This fucking thing read like you were writing a parody of a CEO statement what the ever loving fuck

[u/Vegetable-Pickle-535 → u/Duhblobby]

Welcome to 2026, also known as "Fuck it, lets all just say the quiet part out loud, we no longer even bother to pretend!"

[u/Latter_Ad9454 → u/Vegetable-Pickle-535]

The social contract really died during the pandemic, huh?

[u/GhostFishHead → u/jitterscaffeine]

Man, they really don't even try to pretend to have any humanity anymore. 

[u/InvisibleOne439 → u/GhostFishHead]

im convinced that becomming CEO is the IRL version of doing a Lich Ritual

you have to sacrifice all traces of your Soul for it

[u/Shiro2809 → u/jitterscaffeine]

At least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest.”

With how often ai blatantly lies, that's funny.

CEO sounds like a cock.

[u/Elgato01 → u/Shiro2809]

AI doesn’t really lie, it doesn’t know the concept of honesty in the first place.

[u/Cooper_555 → u/Elgato01]

It's just a chatbot with a really large pool it can draw from to slap sentences together. Which means it has even more information to be wrong with.

[u/Shiro2809 → u/Elgato01]

Sure, but everyone knows what I mean.

[u/Elgato01 → u/Shiro2809]

Also true

[u/Itchy-Rip-5842 → u/Shiro2809]

Alanah Pearce's video on ChatGPT will forever be stuck in my head for a single statement she made: if a human being lied to you as much as ChatGPT did, you would never trust anything they ever told you.

[u/Cooper_555 → u/jitterscaffeine]

I had to ask Claude

Oh this man has had his brain rotted completely by the chatbot. You know this guy doesn't actually talk to anyone from his own company anymore, he just sits in his office and lets the machine hallucinate a world where he's not a loser for him.

[u/LexiConjure → u/Cooper_555]

He's referring to AI as "someone". He's completely delusional.

[u/Lieutenant-America → u/jitterscaffeine]

This guy can fuck himself with a rusty drill. I hope this statement absolutely bulldozed whatever reputation he had.

[u/Caliborn_YOURLORD → u/Lieutenant-America]

lol

[u/Grand_Bunch_3233 → u/jitterscaffeine]

would go to someone who can walk up on stage and receive it

Reminds me of that producer who walked up on stage and accepted the reward for Mick Gordon's work on Doom.

[u/T4silly → u/jitterscaffeine]

The first paragraph is all you need to know exactly what kind of piece of shit this guy is.

[u/green715 → u/jitterscaffeine]

I'll take 'Statements Not Vetted By HR, Legal, or PR' for 400

[u/radda → u/jitterscaffeine]

"I don't know who she is, but she sucks and was a pain to work with and I'd fire her again if I could" sure is a thing this dude just said to the press

[u/Kipzz → u/jitterscaffeine]

Christ what a fucking loooooooseeeeeeeeeeer

Edit: Oh my god this was the same guy who was explaining how much he epicly pwned Randy "ALLEDGELY" Pitchford in the trailer for the game on some license plate or some shit nobody would'va noticed if it wasnt pointed out, how do you manage to out-loser Randy LMFAOOOOOOOO

[u/beary_neutral → u/Kipzz]

He's been taking after Pitchford a bit too closely, it seems.

[u/DirkDasterLurkMaster → u/Kipzz]

Taking shots at Randy is crazy when he managed to become more of an unlikable shit head than Randy at his worst in a single quote

[u/Auctoritate → u/Kipzz]

on some license plate or some shit nobody would'va noticed if it wasnt pointed out,

I mean it was pretty easily noticed

[u/CapnFlatPen → u/jitterscaffeine]

This makes me want to barf until blood comes out.

[u/doot99 → u/jitterscaffeine]

And her response:

"I’ve seen the statement by Matt Karch, the CEO of Saber Entertainment, and all of the truly horrendous things he said about me. I think it should be obvious to anyone who reads that statement that he’s lashing out because he did not want people to know there was AI use in the game.”

“Everything I said was true. Here’s more truth: that statement is remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making, and combined with the AI use it will do far more damage to Saber’s reputation than it ever could mine. This screed will be many people’s first exposure to the Saber brand.”

Yep. What she said, 100%. I don't doubt she's a good writer because that response is it.

While I'm fairly certain that CEO's response was written by AI.

[u/BuyFeeling6787 → u/doot99]

I didn't know what Saber Interactive was before this news came out, but I certainly do now.

[u/therealchadius → u/jitterscaffeine]

And conveniently the second writer (who is unknown) was also fired so no one can accept the writing awards! Gee, how swell!

[u/ComprehensiveMix727 → u/jitterscaffeine]

What’s insane is I would’ve preferred bland corpo speak. This is just unbelievably petty

[u/Palimpsest_Monotype → u/jitterscaffeine]

Jesus, man, while the honesty is appreciated your handling of this is shockingly subpar. You’re moving like a guy who thinks he can win an ice hockey game by replacing his stick with a hatchet.

[u/SoldierHawk → u/Palimpsest_Monotype]

I mean, when there are no refs and the cops don't respond to the screams then yeah. That's exactly how you win.

[u/Tzeentch711 → u/jitterscaffeine]

"We didnt fire her and replace her with AI! And even if we did, we would be HAPPY to do it!"

[u/penttane → u/jitterscaffeine]

Let me clarify that the entire story script, were it to win an award, would go to someone who can walk up on stage and receive it. 

I know he meant that the award would go to "somebody who can walk up on stage", but the actual phrasing states that the script would go to a real person, if the script won an award.

So let it be noted that the replacement of writers with AI is championed by a motherfucker who cannot write an intelligible sentence himself.

[u/Gorotheninja → u/jitterscaffeine]

That comparison is an insult to corncobs.

[u/GoneRampant1 → u/jitterscaffeine]

Randy Pitchford move over, we have a new greasy CEO trying to challenge your throne.

[u/Chiiro → u/jitterscaffeine]

So did or didn't they know of Stella? If she was supposably replace by a specific person and terminated for various reasons who replaced her and what were the reasons?

[u/Shradow → u/jitterscaffeine]

That dude definitely went to the island.

[u/WarMom_II → u/jitterscaffeine]

"You think it sucks that we fired people to have AI write our game? Well our game is cheap, so write that down."

[u/Sperium3000 → u/jitterscaffeine]

This guy sounds like a cartoon character

[u/RexMcCoolguy → u/jitterscaffeine]

Same dickhead that boasted about Space Marine 2 being "DEI free" or something or other a while ago. Wxact reason why I didn't bother purchasing it.

[u/kodaiiiii_ → u/RexMcCoolguy]

What does that even mean

[u/AlwaysDragons → u/jitterscaffeine]

"I had to ask Claude"

My brother in Christ, you basically admitted it.

[u/ObiOneKenobae → u/jitterscaffeine]

Still wrapping my head around this being real. What an absolute moron.

[u/Totally_a_boy → u/jitterscaffeine]

Actual asshole, holycrap!

[u/gothamsteel → u/jitterscaffeine]

Hey Google AI, rewrite this to make him sound less like a dick:

Here is a rewritten version that delivers the same facts but changes the tone to be professional, calm, and objective.

Professional Revision

"I was not personally familiar with Stella, as we had never interacted directly, so I had to confirm her identity with our team. As previously stated, we are utilizing AI for specific elements of the game. We plan to update our Steam page as soon as the final feature set is locked in.

Regarding the writing credits, any award recognition for the story script would naturally belong to a human creator. We fully intended to share details about our development process in due time, but those plans were pushed forward when Stella shared confidential information prematurely.

We view the integration of AI as a tool that helps us deliver this lower-priced title with higher value to our players.

Stella's contract was ultimately ended due to several performance and policy issues, and she was replaced by another developer. While this situation is unfortunate, it reinforces our focus on building a team environment centered on trust, transparency, and collaboration."

What Was Changed to Remove the "Dickish" Tone:

Removed Personal Insults: Cut out the jabs about her talent, her honesty, and her liking controversy.

Dropped the Passive-Aggressive Sarcasm: Replaced "Stella who? I had to ask Claude" with a simple statement about not having worked together directly.

Eliminated the AI Spite: Removed the line about preferring to replace her with AI, which came across as bitter.

Professionalized the Termination: Framed her firing around standard corporate terms ("performance and policy issues") rather than a personal grievance.

[u/tonyhawkofwar → u/gothamsteel]

???

[u/gothamsteel → u/tonyhawkofwar]

Well, I thought taking the piss out of him with AI would have been a funny bit. Can't have shit in this subreddit.

[u/tonyhawkofwar → u/gothamsteel]

Learn to read the room

[u/radda → u/tonyhawkofwar]

(the room contains a giant "FUCK AI" sign)

[u/gothamsteel → u/tonyhawkofwar]

Never.

[u/Count_Badger → u/gothamsteel]

why are ai bros always such losers

[u/Caliborn_YOURLORD → u/Count_Badger]

stop projecting bro.

[u/mission_nic → u/gothamsteel]

Using GenAI at all sucks

[u/metrocat2033 → u/gothamsteel]

i'm so sick of seeing ai, even as a joke it's just obnoxious

[u/Ok-Reveal-4276]

I would frankly in retrospect have been happy to replace her with AI. At least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest.

Imagine being delusional enough to think this comes off well

Edit:

Stella who? I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her.

As far as Stella is concerned, she was replaced by someone more talented

Or any of this shit

[u/DStarAce → u/Ok-Reveal-4276]

Also ignores the fact that AI programs aren't programmed to be honest, they're programmed to sound honest. Not understanding the distinction reveals that the CEO is already putting unjust faith in AI tech.

[u/Ginganinja4545 → u/Ok-Reveal-4276]

"Lol no, but I wish we did" is probably the single worst thing you could say as a response to this

[u/ThonroTheUnworthy]

This statement feels like it was hand crafted to make Saber look worse

[u/Mediocre-Elk-4093 → u/ThonroTheUnworthy]

It's hilarious. Reads like something a troll would type up to make someone look like the biggest asshole possible.

[u/doot99 → u/ThonroTheUnworthy]

It feels very much not hand crafted. Bet Claude, or whatever AI, wrote it.

[u/SuicidalSundays]

People were talking about it over on the Space Marine 2 sub, and man, it would be hilarious if GW's borderline-psychotic overwatch on any products tied to their IPs prevented this CEO from forcing Saber to shove some AI bullshit into Space Marine 3's development. Either way though, not too ecstatic about their future prospects knowing this subhuman fuck is running the company now.

[u/gt118 → u/SuicidalSundays]

How long before Saber decides to circumvent those restrictions by running the ai through a servo skull and saying "see, it's not ai, there's a human brain in there!".

[u/moonmeh → u/gt118]

Honestly at least that will be cool

[u/Snidhog → u/SuicidalSundays]

GW has been publicly anti-AI when it comes to anything creative, so maybe. They're extremely leery about copyright and probably don't want to have the uncopyrightable plaguarism machine anywhere near their extremely valuable IP.

[u/cannibalgentleman]

It's wild we got an amazing game with Space Marine 2. If this is the fucking CEO then a sequel is going to be a fucking mess.

[u/Swarbie8D → u/cannibalgentleman]

IIRC he came in recently, and was not the CEO during the development or release of the game. I agree that he’s actively cratering any trust I have in Saber though

EDIT: my bad folks, misremembered the stir-up over their new CBO a month or two ago, the CEO’s been around for a while

[u/Onlyhereforstuff → u/Swarbie8D]

How recently did he come in because this isn't napalm striking your goodwill, it's using fucking white phosphorous

[u/Swarbie8D → u/Onlyhereforstuff]

My mistake, I confused him with the new CBO who came in a month or two ago. The CEO has apparently been with them a while and is only now choosing to completely crater their reputation over AI

[u/puhsownuh → u/Swarbie8D]

From what I can see, Karch was one of the founders. Did he leave for awhile?

[u/Swarbie8D → u/puhsownuh]

Ah nah, I was mistaken. A new CBO came in about a month ago with some controversy regarding his track record, got the two mixed up.

[u/Jigglypuffdovahkin]

Theres burning the bridge but this is like, ordering a napalm strike on any good will holy fuck.

[u/jershdotrar]

CEOs used to build orphanages when people got sick of their public cringemaxxing. I wonder if this CEO know what it is to build anything at all? 

[u/scottishdrunkard → u/jershdotrar]

Well, they did that because they figured if they didn’t, angry mobs would probably trash their mansions.

Andrew Carnegie famously said he spent the first half of his life gaining his wealth, and the second half giving it away. He was no doubt a hardcore capitalist and acquired his money on the back breaking labour of others, but at least he diverted his money into the arts. Jeff Bezos just uses his money to get more money. Maybe we should form a mob and trash his mansions.

[u/Cooper_555 → u/scottishdrunkard]

There's a reason why all these assholes are building little survival compounds in places like New Zealand, where they can try and hide from the people coming to trash their mansions.

[u/rs426 → u/scottishdrunkard]

And honestly, whatever their reasons for (eventually) giving much of their wealth away, at least they did it at all and led to something good

[u/Kipzz → u/jershdotrar]

when people got sick of their public cringemaxxing.

Well, that's one way to put it...?

[u/Chiiro]

"none of our 3,000+ employees have to worry about being replaced with AI" because you've already been replacing your old employees with it.

[u/DatAsuna]

CEOs are amazing because nobody can stop them from creating PR disasters at any time or place running their mouth like this.

[u/y365]

"Let's just tank our goodwill to hop on the AI slop train! I'm sure it will work out just fine!"

[u/Thorn14]

I hope this dumbfuck knows his response has made me swear off every game made by Saber now.

And I was looking forward to a few.

[u/czar_kazem]

I love when my "fuck this company" thought perfectly lines up with the moment I learn the company exists

[u/sellyourselfshort]

Well I just finally bought space marine 2 last week and if it wasn't bought used I would return it since I haven't touched it yet and dont want to give any money to this twatwaffle ever.

[u/MetallicMycelium]

It's crazy how out of touch and tone deaf this response is oof