Saber Interactive CEO Says He'd Have Been Happy to Replace Writer with AI, Escalating Public Dispute
The CEO of Saber Interactive has said he would, in retrospect, have been happy to replace a former lead writer with AI, adding that "at least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest."
Matthew Karch, co-founder and CEO of the games publisher and developer, made the remark in an interview with This Week in Videogames, as reported by Eurogamer on 13 August 2026. The comment is the latest exchange in a public spat between Karch and Stella Sacco, a writer who says Saber replaced her with ChatGPT midway through development of the game Rideshare "Stimulator."
Sacco, formerly a lead writer on Stuntman Hollywood, posted on Bluesky on 11 August that she had been Rideshare "Stimulator"'s lead writer before being taken off the project so that ChatGPT could write the remaining text, including planned live updates. She said all passenger voices in the game were AI-generated and that this use of generative AI was not disclosed on the game's Steam store page. She also told PC Gamer that Karch decided using ChatGPT would be "great publicity" for the game.
Rideshare "Stimulator" is a taxi game built with the Unigine engine and published by Saber, centred on managing a rideshare business.
Saber has denied replacing any writers with AI. In a statement to The Verge published 12 August, Karch said neither Saber nor Unigine replaced writers with AI on the game. In a separate statement to PC Gamer, also published 12 August, Saber asserted that its writing staff had tripled since 2023 and that Rideshare's story was written entirely by real people. The company did acknowledge that an "experimental" free-ride mode in the game incorporates AI, on the grounds that the number of passengers in the game is infinite.
Karch also claimed that Sacco violated a confidentiality agreement by stating she was fired in favour of AI, according to PC Gamer.
Sacco responded to Karch's remarks on Bluesky, calling his comment "remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making." She said the statement, combined with the AI use, would do more damage to Saber's reputation than to hers.
The dispute sits at the intersection of two live issues in the games industry: the use of generative AI in shipped games, and the disclosure of that use to players buying them. Steam's parent company Valve introduced a requirement in early 2024 for developers to disclose AI-generated content on store pages. Whether Rideshare "Stimulator"'s listing meets that standard is now part of the argument between publisher and former writer.
Neither Karch nor Sacco has indicated further legal action. The game remains available on Steam.
