Saber's CEO Apologized. The Disclosure Came After the Backlash.
Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said he'd have been "happy to replace" former writer Stella Sacco with AI, then apologized to her publicly after the backlash. Only after that did Saber add an AI disclaimer to Rideshare Stimulator's Steam page — a disclosure that had been missing since the game first went live.
The full sequence
1 — The labor dispute. Saber confirmed that Rideshare Stimulator used generative-AI writing while denying that ChatGPT replaced the game's lead writer. Former writer Stella Sacco said she had been fired in favor of AI; the available reporting did not produce the employment paper trail needed to resolve that claim. Sources: Rock Paper Shotgun and PC Gamer.
2 — The disclosure expanded the case. After the public dispute, Saber added a generative-AI disclosure to the game's Steam page. The new notice covered not only writing but in-game music, a use that had not been central to the original argument. At that stage the company's public response defended AI's role rather than apologizing for the executive's comment. Sources: Rock Paper Shotgun and PC Gamer.
3 — The apology followed. Karch later apologized directly to Sacco. That resolved the personal statement on the public record, but it did not answer the employment claim or establish what Saber's disclosure policy had been before the controversy.
The reporting confirms AI-assisted writing, AI-generated in-game music, a late storefront disclosure, the executive's comment, and his apology. It does not establish from employment records whether AI caused Sacco's departure. That distinction is the line between the documented case and the allegation.
The comment
The case starts with a sentence a studio CEO probably wishes he could take back. According to Eurogamer, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said he'd have "been happy to replace" former writer Stella Sacco with AI. That's the whole row, distilled to one line — a named employee, a named executive, and a stated preference for automation over her.
Everything that follows is damage control. That's not a knock — apologies and disclosures are the correct response to a mistake. It's just worth being precise about the order things happened in, because the order is the story.
The apology
Karch has since apologized to Sacco directly, per Eurogamer's follow-up report. That the apology came at all, and named the person it was owed to, is worth crediting. But an apology issued after a public backlash is evidence of the backlash's effectiveness, not proof the underlying instinct has changed. The client wants to know if the case is closed. It isn't — it's suspended, pending behavior.
An apology and a disclosure are both reactive. Neither tells you what the studio's actual policy on AI-assisted writing credit was before the row started, and neither source reports one.
The disclosure
The detail that turns this from a PR story into an accountability story: Eurogamer reports the AI disclaimer on Rideshare Stimulator's Steam page had been "conspicuously missing" since the game first went live, and Saber only added it now — in the middle of this specific controversy. That's a compliance gap that sat unaddressed until public pressure made it inconvenient to leave alone.
A missing disclosure doesn't prove intent to deceive. But it does mean the fix arrived on the controversy's schedule, not the studio's own.
This is a preview of a fight the rest of the industry hasn't had publicly yet: what a studio owes writers, on the record, before AI enters the workflow — not after someone's job is threatened by it out loud.
Questions people ask
What did Saber Interactive's CEO actually say?
Matthew Karch said he'd have been "happy to replace" former writer Stella Sacco with AI, according to Eurogamer.
Did Karch apologize?
Yes. Eurogamer reports he apologized to Sacco publicly after the comment sparked backlash.
Did Rideshare Stimulator have an AI disclosure on Steam before this?
No — Eurogamer reports the disclaimer had been conspicuously missing since the game first went live, and was only added amid this controversy.
Is this the only AI-labor dispute in games right now?
Not reported as such — this is the one with a named writer, a named executive, and a documented sequence of comment, apology, and disclosure fix.
The file closes on two documents, not one: an apology to a person, and a disclaimer to a storefront. The first is about a relationship. The second is about compliance. Watch what Saber does next — whether the disclosure policy gets applied to future titles before launch, or only after the next reporter calls.
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