Saber CEO denies replacing writers with AI
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- Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch denied replacing writers with AI on 'Rideshare Stimulator,' telling The Verge the game's story was 'written entirely by real people' except for an experimental free-ride mode
- Former lead writer Stella Sacco countered on Bluesky that Saber 'replaced me with ChatGPT midway through development' and that 'all the passenger voices were AI too'
- Sacco said Saber informed her in December 2023 that she was being replaced with AI, and called Karch's statement 'trying to have it both ways' — noting both human and AI rides appear in the game
- Saber justified its AI use in the free-ride mode by stating 'the number of passengers in the game is infinite,' and Karch said the studio's 3,000+ employees don't need to worry about AI replacement
- The game's Steam listing does not currently include any disclosure about using generative AI, despite Karch publicly confirming AI is used for portions of the game
- Unigine is developing 'Rideshare Stimulator' alongside Saber, having announced the game last month
Why it matters: The contradiction between Karch's 'written entirely by real people' claim and Sacco's account — compounded by the absence of any AI disclosure on the Steam listing — leaves Saber defending itself on two fronts at once: a labor-replacement denial and an admitted AI-written content pipeline. With Sacco providing a specific December 2023 date for the alleged replacement, the dispute turns on whose version of internal studio decisions the public accepts.
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