Saber CEO Denies Replacing Writers With AI

Saber Interactive is pushing back on claims that it quietly swapped human writers for AI on its upcoming game, Rideshare "Stimulator." CEO Matthew Karch told The Verge this week that "neither Saber nor Unigine have replaced any writers with AI" on the title, which Unigine is developing and which Saber announced last month. The pushback follows a Bluesky post from Stella Sacco, who says she served as lead writer on the project before being cut loose partway through.

The dispute centers on a teaser trailer for the game, which casts players as rideshare business owners and includes voiced passenger interactions that sound machine-generated. Saber's Steam listing for the game currently carries no disclosure about generative AI use, despite the segments in question appearing to feature AI-written dialogue and AI-voiced riders. That absence of disclosure is part of what's fueling the disagreement between Sacco's account and Karch's version of events.

Karch's statement to The Verge draws a distinction between the game's main story and a separate "free-ride" mode, which he says relies on AI out of necessity given the volume of passengers involved. Sacco's telling, posted publicly, tells a different story altogether.