A public dispute between Saber Interactive and a former employee who alleges she was replaced by ChatGPT has intensified following new statements from both sides. The controversy centers on Saber's recently unveiled game, Rideshare "Stimulator."
Stella Sacco, formerly a lead writer on the game, first brought the issue to light on August 11, sharing that she had been "replaced with ChatGPT midway through development" and that "all the passenger voices were AI too." She questioned the lack of disclosure on Steam regarding the use of generative AI in the game's development.
Saber Interactive has denied these claims, stating that neither Saber nor developer Unigine replaced any writers with AI for Rideshare or any other game. The company asserted that its writing staff has tripled since 2023 and that Rideshare's story was written entirely by human writers. However, Saber did acknowledge that an "experimental" free-ride mode "by necessity incorporates AI as the number of the passengers in the game is infinite," and that they are "firm believers in using AI tools to improve or enhance gameplay experiences."
Sacco pushed back against Saber's statements, asserting she was present during development and that the company did indeed use ChatGPT to write the remainder of the text and planned live updates after removing her from the project. She suggested that CEO Matthew Karch's decision to use ChatGPT was partly for "great publicity."
In response to Sacco's claims, Saber CEO Matthew Karch told This Week in Videogames that he "frankly in retrospect would have been happy to replace her with AI. At least we would be dealing with someone programmed to be honest."
Karch stated he did not recall Sacco, but clarified that the entire story script, if award-winning, would go to a human. He claimed it was always their intention to reveal the AI use, but that Sacco violated her confidentiality clause by disclosing it prematurely. Karch characterized the AI use in the lower-priced title as a "plus for consumers" and stated Sacco was "replaced by someone more talented and terminated for a variety of reasons a few months later."
Sacco responded to Karch's remarks, calling them "remarkably pathetic for the CEO of any company to be making." She believes his statements, combined with the AI use, will cause significant damage to Saber's reputation, calling the exchange many people's first exposure to the Saber brand. Sacco reiterated that everything she said was true and that Karch's outburst demonstrated his unwillingness to have the AI use in the game known. She stated she is a person of principle and is comfortable with what she has said, allowing the public to see "what kind of man is running Saber."