Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch became an easy punching bag over the last few days. It followed a dizzying array of statements, backpedals and forward bounds regarding the use of AI in the upcoming game Rideshare “Simulator.” While this kind of flame out from top brass has become increasingly common on the world wide web, the vicious loop may hopefully come to a merciful end as Karch apologizes to the game’s former writer, who said she was fired in favor of AI.
“Last night, to my great surprise, I received a long email from Saber Interactive CEO Matt Karch,” posted writer Stella Sacco. “He apologized unreservedly for the awful way he spoke about me in the press. The email’s full text will stay between us… I’ve been firm from the beginning that I was telling the truth; I think we can all now agree that’s been borne out. Matt expressed a desire to make it right with me; at this time I don’t really know what that looks like for me, and I’ll have to take some time to sit with it, but I do at least accept his apology.”
The fracasos kicked off following the announcement trailer for Rideshare “Simulator.” While the video takes a jab at Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, it would soon be Saber’s own CEO fending off blows. Sacco, the game’s former lead writer, posted that the company replaced her with ChatGPT and wasn’t disclosing it on the Steam page.
What followed was a volley of statements. First a boilerplate denial from Saber, but then a weird, snarky refutation directly from Karch, which claims they intended to add the Steam disclaimer after they “finalized the feature set,” peppering some flat riffs throughout. “Stella who?” Wrote Karch. “I had to ask Claude because I have never spoken to her or seen her.” Giant Bomb performed a dramatic reading of the rant.
Saber updated the Steam page to include an AI disclaimer, revealing that much of its voice overs, music and non-campaign mission dialogue has been generated. Sacco stood her ground, while Karch’s meltdown began to overshadow the game itself. And so, probably for the better, Karch has opted to apologize.
“Apologies are simply in too short a supply these days to spurn one when it’s offered,” wrote Sacco. “God willing, this is the last statement I’ll need to make about this.”