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Saber chief says he would replace former writer with AI
Developed over time first seen 3 months ago
A public dispute between Saber Interactive and former writer Stella Sacco has centred on her claim that she was replaced by ChatGPT while working on the taxi game Rideshare “Stimulator”. Saber denies replacing any writers with AI, but chief executive Matthew Karch intensified the argument by saying he would have been happy to replace Sacco with AI, prompting her to accuse him of damaging the company’s reputation.
Sacco says she was removed as lead writer so AI could produce remaining text and planned updates, including passenger dialogue. Saber says the main story was written entirely by people and its writing staff has tripled since 2023, while acknowledging AI is used in an experimental mode to support an effectively unlimited number of passengers; it says the Steam page will be updated once features are finalised.
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In short
- Saber and a former writer dispute alleged AI replacement.
- CEO’s remarks intensified the public row.
- Saber confirms limited AI use but denies replacing writers.
How this story developed
- 3 months ago Sacco condemned Karch’s remarks as pathetic and warned that his response and Saber's AI strategy could damage the studio’s reputation.
- 3 months ago Saber chief executive Matthew Karch escalated the dispute by saying he would have willingly replaced Sacco with AI, despite the company’s denial that any writers had been displaced.
- 3 months ago Former Rideshare “Stimulator” lead writer Stella Sacco alleged that Saber Interactive removed her to use ChatGPT for future game text, while Saber said human writers created the main story and AI only supports an experimental passenger mode.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Critics of Saber argue that a chief executive publicly saying he would replace a former lead writer with AI reinforces legitimate fears that generative tools will be used to displace creative workers without candid disclosure. They contend that writers deserve clarity about how AI affects their roles and credit, while players deserve accurate information about AI-generated content before buying or supporting a game. From this perspective, the comments risk damaging trust even if the company retains human writers elsewhere.
The case against
Saber can reasonably argue that experimentation with AI, particularly for a mode designed to generate an effectively unlimited range of incidental passengers, is a practical creative and technical choice rather than evidence that it is replacing authored storytelling or its writing team. The company says its story was written by people and that it has expanded its writing staff, suggesting AI can supplement work in narrowly defined areas while human creators remain central. It may also argue that disclosure should be updated when the final feature set is settled, so public descriptions are accurate rather than premature.
Explained simply
Saber Interactive is a video game company known for making and publishing games across several genres. Stella Sacco is a former lead writer who worked on Rideshare “Stimulator”, a game that includes scripted text and ongoing content updates.
The disagreement centres on whether generative artificial intelligence was used in place of human writing work. Sacco says she was removed so ChatGPT could take over some of that work, while Saber says its story content is written by people and disputes that writers have been replaced.
Generative AI tools can produce text from prompts, but their growing use has raised questions across the games industry about jobs, authorship and how clearly companies should explain their use. The issue also involves what information players are given on game store pages about AI-generated material.
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Originally published by Eurogamer as “‘I would frankly have been happy to replace her with AI’ – extraordinary public spat between Saber CEO and writer “replaced with ChatGPT” intensifies”.